Forbes came out with their annual evaluation of all American professional sports franchises and their evaluation of the NBA franchises gives a glimpse into the current success of the league and how valuable it has gotten over the last five to 10 years.
Unsurprisingly, (despite their recent struggles) the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers are the two most valuable franchises in the NBA according to Forbes, with the Knicks valued at $3.6 billion and the Lakers valued at $3.3 billion.
The most interesting part of the entire evaluation is that for the first time in league history, Forbes believes every single one of the 30 NBA franchises is worth at least $1 billion:
The Atlanta Hawks were the last NBA franchise to sell for under a billion dollars, they sold for $850 million in 2015, and they will likely be the last to sell for under a billion.
The average NBA team is now worth $1.65 billion, which is up 22% over last year.
The league’s values have tripled over the past five years according to the article, which is attributed to the NBA’s current economics and international growth prospects which are the best of any U.S. professional sports league.
The article is pretty interesting as it breaks down the different financial circumstances for the league and its projected growth in different sectors and compares that with some of the other major professional sports leagues like the NFL.
You can read the whole story here: NBA Team Values 2018
