Forbes released an article Wednesday morning breaking down the valuation of NBA franchises in 2017. Believe it or not despite the constant futility on the court, the constant drama off the court surrounding the franchise, the president taking mid-season vacations and former fan favorites being banned from the arena, the New York Knicks are still the most valuable franchise in the NBA with a $3.3 billion evaluation, up 10% from 2016.
Forbes says the Knicks (3.3 billion) are the most valuable NBA franchise: https://t.co/h58eh4Dc6b
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 15, 2017
The only other team that is valued at $3 billion dollars is the country’s other biggest market and maybe its most cache franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers.
They are up 11% in value and amazingly despite extreme struggles on the court last season, the Knicks made $141 million in profit and the Lakers made $119 million in profit.
The other franchises which landed in the top five for value were the Golden State Warriors ($2.8 billion), Chicago Bulls ($2.5 billion) and the Boston Celtics ($2.2 million).
The average valuation of an NBA franchise is now $1.3 billion according to Forbes which is a meteoric increase in the past 10 years as the league has entered a golden era with plenty of star power and new television deals. For a frame of reference, it cost around $300 million for the expansion Charlotte Bocats, now the Charlotte Hornets in 2004.
Apparently cache and market is everything when it comes to franchise evaluation, as the traditional legacy franchises are still on top in spite of their recent on court struggles.
