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The Dallas Cowboys (once again) top Forbes Magazine’s list of most valuable sports teams

All three of the Cowboys’ NFC East rivals made the top 50 as well.

It’s hard to imagine that Jerry Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys for only $150 million.

Sure, that price was in 1989 money. But compared to the franchise’s current evaluation, it’s pretty clear that Jones made a great investment. And he’s been laughing his way to the bank ever since.

The Cowboys just topped Forbes Magazine’s 2020 list of most valuable sports teams with a value of $5.5 billion.

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Surprise, surprise.

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“America’s Team” has owned the list for the past half-decade and is the only U.S. sports franchise to place No. 1 on the list since its inception in 2010. Dallas has now topped the list for five straight years, since 2016.

Soccer clubs Real Madrid and Manchester United were the previous No. 1 teams; the only other sports franchises to be distinguished with the “most valuable” title by Forbes.

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For the first time in the list’s history, the top five franchises were exclusively teams from the United States. The New York Yankees (MLB, $5 billion) placed second, followed by the New York Knicks (NBA, $4.6 billion), the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA, $4.4 billion) and the Golden State Warriors (NBA, $4.3 billion).

Forbes’ Kurt Badenhausen had this to say about the Cowboys:

“A decade ago, there was only one [franchise evaluated near $2 billion]: U.K. soccer club Manchester United, which was the most valuable team on earth in 2010 at $1.83 billion. That honor now belongs to the Dallas Cowboys, who top the Forbes ranking of the 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams for the fifth straight year, at $5.5 billion, edging out the $5 billion New York Yankees. For Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and New York’s Steinbrenner family, it may as well be paper profit. Only one team in the top 35 — MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, in 2012 — has changed hands in the past decade ... "

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Dallas’ evaluation has improved in the five-year span since 2016, when the Cowboys first topped the list with a value of $4 billion. This year’s evaluation represents 33 percent growth over 2016′s figure and 10 percent growth over 2019′s.

While no other American football team placed in the top five this year, the NFL dominated the list, placing 27 franchises in the top 50 — more than any other league by a long shot.

All three of the Cowboys’ NFC East rivals made the list as well. The New York Giants placed ninth ($3.9 billion), the Washington Football Team placed tied for 14th ($3.4 billion) and the Philadelphia Eagles placed 23rd ($3.05 billion).

The Dallas Mavericks ($2.4 billion) also appeared on the list, tied at No. 41 with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and the MLB’s New York Mets.

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