The Kansas City Chiefs continue to be among the 50 most valuable sports franchises in the world, according to Forbes.
This year the Chiefs tied for No. 47 with an MLB team from just down I-70, the St. Louis Cardinals. This is a decrease from 2018, when the Chiefs tied for the 43rd-most valuable franchise.
The difference here is that the Chiefs did not see a net increase in value over the past year. In 2018, the Chiefs had a 12 percent one-year increase. The team didn’t lose value — they still remain worth $2.1 billion — but increases in other franchises’ values caused the Chiefs to drop.
The Chiefs also remain the lowest-valued AFC West team. Here’s where they all placed:
26. Denver Broncos, $2.65 billion, 2 percent increase
34. Oakland Raiders, $2.42 billion, 2 percent increase
41. Los Angeles Chargers, $2.28 billion, no increase
47. Kansas City Chiefs, $2.1 billion, no increase
The Broncos and Chargers both fell three spots from last season, while the Raiders are still ranked at No. 34. The Chiefs have the second-highest operating income at $60 million, while the Broncos have the highest at $102 million.
The NFL remains the most dominant sport in the rankings, with 26 franchises making the Forbes list in 2019. They’ve accounted for more than half of the list in the past two seasons.
What’s really interesting to me is that the Chiefs didn’t see any sort of percentage increase based on the fact that they had a successful 2018 season. They saw the emergence of a franchise-altering quarterback and were a play away from going to the Super Bowl. Neither of those things moved the needle in terms of franchise value. That just goes to show you that the football side and business side an NFL franchise are two very different things.
