The Los Angeles Lakers have always been one of the most popular and valuable franchises in all of American professional sports.
Despite some front office issues and the worst on-court stretch in team history, that has not changed in recent seasons.
The 2019-20 NBA season has marked a return to greatness on the court while the off-court brand remains as strong as ever and the valuation shows that. Every year, Forbes ranks the most valuable franchises in all of sports and the Lakers being near the top is nothing new.
Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes ranked the most valuable franchises in the NBA and the Lakers are in rare company. Only the New York Knicks rank ahead of Los Angeles amongst NBA teams:
By our scorecard, the moribund New York Knicks grab the top valuation ($4.6 billion) for the fifth straight year, up 15%, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers ($4.4 billion) and the Golden State Warriors ($4.3 billion). These three teams have by far the highest revenue in the NBA. Only the Dallas Cowboys ($5.5 billion) are worth more than the Knicks among North American sports franchises, with the New York Yankees ($4.6 billion) the only other team ahead of the Lakers and the Warriors.
That is impressive company as the Lakers not only rank as the second-most valuable franchise in the NBA but fourth overall amongst all North American sports franchises. The fact that the top-three in the NBA are so far ahead of the rest of the league is even more impressive.
The team’s worth is up 19 percent over last season according to Forbes, which is the fifth-biggest increase in the NBA behind the Toronto Raptors, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Charlotte Hornets.
Following the Knicks, Lakers, and Warriors are the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics, but they are more than $1 billion behind Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Clippers come in at sixth and are even farther back being worth $2.6 billion.
