The Dallas Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl in 30 years and own the NFC’s longest active drought without a conference championship game appearance. Yet, America’s Team has a grip on a different kind of title: the world’s most valuable sports franchise.
The Cowboys topped Sportico’s NFL team valuations for the seventh straight year. Their $15.5 billion value is up 22% versus 2025. NFL teams dominate the top of global franchise rankings, with only six non-NFL teams worth more than the Cincinnati Bengals, who rank No. 32 in the league at $7.4 billion.
Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys in 1989 for $150 million, including unfunded liabilities. The team is now worth 100x that amount—compare that to 27x growth for the S&P 500 in that same time.
The Cowboys are in a class by themselves with $1.3 billion in revenue—Real Madrid is the only sports franchise to post more. Its local revenue is nearly 70% higher than the second-place Los Angeles Rams. Dallas’ estimated $510 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is twice that of the Rams and nearly 4x the league average EBITDA of $139 million.
Sports teams are historically valued on multiples of revenue because profits can be low or non-existent. At 30 times EBITDA, the Cowboys are the rare team that generates enough cash to justify its valuation as a business. The value/EBITDA multiple is 72 in the NFL, excluding the Cowboys. One sports team investor told Sportico that a stake in the Cowboys was good value at between $18 billion and $20 billion.
