The importance of having a team in a major market can’t be understated. Not only does it help the appeal of the individual players on the rosters, but the teams are generally worth more as well. Therefore, it’s no secret that the Knicks and Lakers are the two most valuable NBA franchises, according to Forbes.
The average NBA team is worth $509 million, a 30% increase over last year. The increase is due to higher revenue from television, new and renovated arenas, and the NBA’s new collective-bargaining agreement, which reduced player costs from 57% of revenues to roughly 50%. The labor deal also increased the amount of money high-revenue teams provide low-revenue teams.
The New York Knicks are the league’s most valuable team, worth $1.1 billion, reclaiming the crown from the Los Angeles Lakers, who topped last year’s list.
