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For years, despite a startling level of incompetence from owner James Dolan, the New York Knicks were the most valuable franchise in the NBA.
While the Lakers often gave them a run for their money, the Knicks derived value from location and the fact that they played in Madison Square Garden.
Now that is no longer the case.
Neither the Knicks nor the Lakers topped Sportico’s latest list of the highest-valued NBA franchises. Instead, that mantle went to a franchise that has had a great deal of success in recent years: the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors are worth a whopping $7.56 billion, making them the second-highest valued franchise in the world behind the Dallas Cowboys at $7.64 billion.
While it’s not necessarily a shock to see Golden State atop the list, it is surprising to see how much the Dubs are worth and how much more they’re making than every other franchise.
Golden State Warriors Bring In Massive Revenue Compared To Rest Of NBA
The Warriors currently have the NBA’s largest salary cap hit at $202,091,305 according to Spotrac. Despite that, Golden State is still making money hand over fist thanks to an absolutely absurd amount of revenue.
“The Warriors had $800 million in gross revenue last season, which was 50 percent higher than any other franchise. The revenue gap between the Warriors and the rest of the NBA is even greater than the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys, who generate roughly 40 percent and 25 percent more venue than their league’s number two.” – via RealGM
Golden State’s on-court success clearly drives that revenue. The Dubs have won four of the last eight NBA Championships and are the current reigning champs. But they’ve also found a way to diversify their investments off of the court.
“Our basketball team will always be our primary focus,” Joe Lacob said in a phone interview. “But I view our future as a sports, entertainment, media and technology company.”
Lacob believes the Warriors can become like Disney in diversifying their business after starting with animated movies and adding theme parks.
“There is no reason we can’t do some of those things over the long term,” he said.
RealGM reports that the team brings in $150M per year in sponsorships and $250M in premium seating. Both numbers are double any other team in the league.
Turns out, the best way for billionaire sports owners to make money is for them to first spend money. Who knew?!