SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- With a gleaming new home rising from the South Bay landscape, the San Francisco 49ers are no doubt on the NFL’s hot list. And when it comes to Forbes’ list of most valuable franchises in the league, the 49ers, who have played in three straight NFC title games and a Super Bowl in that span, are also a Top 10 franchise.
The 49ers check in at No. 9 in the 32-team NFL with an estimated value of $1.6 billion. The Forbes list also listed the franchise’s revenue for 2013 at $270 million and an operating income of $25 million.
“The 49ers opened their new, privately financed, 68,500-seat stadium in Santa Clara in July, and will host Super Bowl 50 in February 2016,” the Forbes report read.
The Dallas Cowboys were No. 1 on the Forbes list, valued at $3.2 billion, for the eighth straight year, and were followed by the New England Patriots ($2.6 billion), Washington ($2.4 billion), the New York Giants ($2.1 billion) and the Houston Texans ($1.85 billion) in the top five. And in case you did not notice, the only team in that list to make the playoffs last season was New England.
The league average for franchise worth was $1.43 billion.
As far as the NFC West is concerned, the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks were 15th overall with an estimated value of $1.33 billion, followed by the Arizona Cardinals ($1.0 billion, 25th overall) and the St. Louis Rams ($930 million, 32nd).
Meanwhile, across the Bay, the Oakland Raiders were 28th, with an estimated value of $970 million to go with a revenue of $244 million in 2013 and an operating income of $43 million.
“The Raiders signed a new short-term lease with the joint Oakland-Alameda County board that runs O.co Coliseum in late 2013 and have been exploring opportunities about moving to Los Angeles and San Antonio,” Forbes wrote.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has suggested the Raiders becoming a tenant of the 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium in the near future.