NFL franchise valuations have risen 20% in the last year

The Dallas Cowboys are still the biggest team by far.

8/15/25 7:58AM

We’re now less than three weeks away from the opening game of the 2025-26 NFL season, when Super Bowl LIX champions the Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Dallas Cowboys to get this year’s action underway. Though the Eagles will be going into the game as the odds-on favorite, there’s no competition between the two when it comes to the size of the franchises off the field.

Per the latest annual NFL franchise valuation figures from Sportico released earlier this week, the Dallas Cowboys are (again) the league’s most valuable team by far — worth a staggering $12.8 billion, according to the publication’s estimates. That’s more than steak chain Texas Roadhouse ($11.5 billion), but some way off Texas Instruments ($176 billion).

It’s not just the Cowboys that have bloomed to become a huge, over $10 billion business, though; the NFL’s decision last August to open up the league to private equity dealmakers has seen two other sides join the 11-digit club and helped bump franchise valuation estimates by 20% on average over the past 12 months.

NHS franchise valuations chart — Sherwood News

Sportico put the value of the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants at $10.4 billion and $10.3 billion, respectively, having both risen 34% each over the last year, based on local and national revenues, wider transaction metrics, and team-specific multipliers.

Climbing valuations across the board mean that the average NFL side is now worth $7.13 billion, compared to the average $4.6 billion estimates in the NBA — calculated before the approved $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics made it the most expensive franchise in US sports history on Wednesday — and $2.82 billion in the MLB, from Sportico’s figures.

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Max Knoblauch4/9/26

American Airlines joins the flock, hiking bag fees amid higher jet fuel prices

American Airlines on Thursday announced that it, too, will be hiking the fees it charges customers to check luggage.

With the move, all four of the major US airlines, which together control about 80% of the US market, have now hiked their baggage fees in recent days amid surging jet fuel prices.

The change will go into effect on tickets bought on or after Thursday, the same day Southwest’s hike begins.

Since late March, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Canada’s WestJet, and Southwest have hiked their fees. Experts expect more major carriers to follow, and to potentially tweak the pricing of other ancillary revenue sources like seat assignments and carry-on luggage.

American Airlines updates bag fees and Basic Economy fares

The change will go into effect on tickets bought on or after Thursday, the same day Southwest’s hike begins.

Max Knoblauch4/9/26

Less than a year after implementing them, Southwest is also hiking its bag fees

Southwest Airlines has joined the growing list of airlines opting to hike their bag fees amid sustained higher jet fuel costs.

Starting today, the first checked bag at the carrier — which implemented bag fees less than a year ago — will jump from $35 to $45, and the second from $45 to $55. Southwest quietly disclosed the change Tuesday.

Southwest assigned the decision to “part of an ongoing analysis of the business and against the evolving global backdrop.”

As of Wednesday, jet fuel prices dropped to $4.16 a gallon, per the Argus US Jet Fuel Index, down from $4.81 on Tuesday following President Trump’s ceasefire announcement, which sent travel stocks soaring. Major airlines have shed some of those gains in premarket trading Thursday.

With the move to hike bag fees, Southwest joins JetBlue, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Canada’s WestJet, all of which also boosted fees this month. Experts expect more major carriers to follow, and to potentially tweak the pricing of other ancillary revenue sources like seat assignments and carry-on luggage.