The Dallas Cowboys are atop the Forbes list of the world's most valuable sports teams, with an estimated value of $5 billion, for the fourth straight year.
The Cowboys haven't reached the NFC title game in 23 years -- only Washington and Detroit have longer championship game droughts -- but still pulled in bigger television ratings than any U.S. sports team. Dallas was involved in nine of the top 50 highest-rated sports broadcasts of 2018, according to Sports Media Watch.
The Cowboys' operating income was $365 million in 2017 before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to Forbes.
Just seven years ago, in 2012, the Premier League's Manchester United was the world's most valuable team -- and the only one worth more than $2 billion. Now, according to Forbes, every NFL, NBA and MLB franchise is worth at least $1 billion and 52 are worth more than twice that.
The Cowboys are followed on the 2019 list by Major League Baseball's New York Yankees ($4.6 billion), Real Madrid ($4.24 billion) and Barcelona ($4.02 billion) of La Liga, and the NBA's New York Knicks ($4 billion).
The Houston Texas are tied for 22nd with the Boston Celtics, worth $2.8 billion; the Houston Rockets are tied for 28th with the Carolina Panthers, worth $2.3 billion; and the Dallas Mavericks are 43rd on the list at $2.25 billion.
