World's Most Valuable Sports Franchise

[oldecapecod11]

No; it is not the Patriots - not yet, anyway. Right now they are only #3 but 2nd in the NFL.

One of the top five gives you a little hint as to why one of the contributor candidates was selected.

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/09/15/t ... D211818340

[fgoodwin]

It's a testament to Jerry Jones' ability as a businessman that the Cowboys currently rank as the most valuable sports team in the world. But as a fan, I could care less about that. What does team valuation have to do with winning football games?

This is why I wish Jerry would have stepped down as GM 15 or 20 years ago. Let him concentrate on stadiums and naming deals. But give the GM and personnel duties to someone who knows football and can devote his full attention to those matters. I admit that lately, the team's personnel moves and drafting have improved. I attribute that to Jerry backing off somewhat in the last 5-7 years, and turning those duties over to son Stephen.

Ever the hard head, Jerry denies he's backing off, and claims he still does things today exactly the same way as he did when he bought the team in 1989. If you believe that, then you can explain why Jerry's level of success on the field in 1996-2015 is not quite that same as it was from 1989-1995.

[NWebster]

No; it is not the Patriots - not yet, anyway. Right now they are only #3 but 2nd in the NFL.

One of the top five gives you a little hint as to why one of the contributor candidates was selected.

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/09/15/t ... D211818340

I would've guessed Manchester United. Combined Europe is a similar size market to the US, and I cannot remember visiting a foreign country where I didn't see people wearing Man U gear.

[Reaser]

I would've guessed Manchester United. Combined Europe is a similar size market to the US, and I cannot remember visiting a foreign country where I didn't see people wearing Man U gear.

Yup, they seemingly were at the top for a long time. Assume lost a bit of the popularity over the previous two seasons since after a 22 year period of finishing in the Top 3 (usually 1st or 2nd) they fell to 7th place after Sir Alex Furguson retired. Last season i think they were 4th but they've had 3 people manage the team in the past two years so not the dominant force they once were. Surely people hopped off the bandwagon.

[Gary Najman]

No; it is not the Patriots - not yet, anyway. Right now they are only #3 but 2nd in the NFL.

One of the top five gives you a little hint as to why one of the contributor candidates was selected.

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/09/15/t ... D211818340

I would've guessed Manchester United. Combined Europe is a similar size market to the US, and I cannot remember visiting a foreign country where I didn't see people wearing Man U gear.

It's amazing how the top two Spanish soccer teams (Barcelona and Real Madrid) are still in the top 5 and also are present everywhere, you can see their merchandise in nearly every country (I went to both stadiums of those teams four year ago, and their stores are almost as large as the one the Dallas Cowboys have in Jerry's World). In the last season of NFL Europe's Barcelona Dragons, they added the "FC" before Barcelona (like the soccer teams) and changed stadiums from the Montjuic Olympic to the MIni Estadi, next to Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe.

[oldecapecod11]

by NWebster » Fri Sep 25, 2015 5:00 pm
"I would've guessed Manchester United. Combined Europe is a similar size market to the US, and I cannot remember visiting a foreign country where I didn't see people wearing Man U gear.That club has to be pretty near the top?"

About 15+ years ago, they also operated an American football team known as the Manchester All-Stars during that blaze of interest in our game that swept the British Isles. The league allowed 3 or 5 (forget) Americans on each team which was usually filled by GIs stationed in England.
Not Manchester though! One of their sponsors / stockholders at the time was Northwest Airlines which flew whatever the club needed forth and back from the USA. (Luckyshow probably has the entire club records in one of his files? What say you, Paul?)

Manchester United was the second highest-earning football club in the world for 2013–14, with an annual revenue of €518 million,[5][6] and the world's third most valuable football club in 2015, valued at $1.98 billion.[7] As of June 2015, it is the world's most valuable football brand, estimated to be worth $1.2 billion.[8][9] It is one of the most widely supported football teams in the world.[10][11] After being floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was purchased by Malcolm Glazer in May 2005 in a deal valuing the club at almost £800 million, after which the company was taken private again. In August 2012, Manchester United made an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably with Liverpool and with Manchester City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_United_F.C.

[Gary Najman]

It's a testament to Jerry Jones' ability as a businessman that the Cowboys currently rank as the most valuable sports team in the world. But as a fan, I could care less about that. What does team valuation have to do with winning football games?

This is why I wish Jerry would have stepped down as GM 15 or 20 years ago. Let him concentrate on stadiums and naming deals. But give the GM and personnel duties to someone who knows football and can devote his full attention to those matters. I admit that lately, the team's personnel moves and drafting have improved. I attribute that to Jerry backing off somewhat in the last 5-7 years, and turning those duties over to son Stephen.

Ever the hard head, Jerry denies he's backing off, and claims he still does things today exactly the same way as he did when he bought the team in 1989. If you believe that, then you can explain why Jerry's level of success on the field in 1996-2015 is not quite that same as it was from 1989-1995.

I think that you also have to give credit to Tex Schramm, Tom Landry and Co. Here in Mexico the Cowboys are the most popular team since the 70s, at least, even in their bad years before Jerry Jones came. I remember that since I was a kid in the 70s the Cowboys games almost always have been broadcasted by the Mexican public televisión, and in the US they were the first team to also have a Spanish radio broadcast. Also, many Mexican fans (including me!) have traveled to Cowboys/AT&T Stadium. In fact, it is said that when there are Cowboys home games, the sales grow in the city's shopping centers (like The Galleria and North Park) since many Mexican fans also come for the shopping.

[luckyshow]

I would only have the Manchester All-Stars if they were based in the United States, even nominally (meaning they played only "road" games in the UK.) I think all I have for the UK as of now, is the BritBowl and now abandoned post-season games in Scotland. I also have the NFL Europe championship games. This Manchester team played in Manchester, correct? (UK not NH). The London Monarchs won the 1991 World Bowl. The Barcelona Dragons won in 1997, lost two more. That was the World League of American Football, which did include American teams. (The Sacramento Surge beat the Orlando Thunder, 21-17, in the 1992 World Bowl played in Montreal.)

I can only do so much. Currently I am looking for a report on yesterday's German Ladies Bowl, the championship game of their women's tackle football league, and trying to figure out why the ELAF Bowl in Russia, took place end of August when it was scheduled for yesterday. For something I do for no profit, I probably do too much. Somehow I get hundreds of views a day of my pages, usually 1000s a week. I sometimes get requests, even old photos, wanting details of ancestors who played for semi-pro baseball teams and similar football. I do what I can. It was easier when I subscribed to newspaperarchives. I should get these people to pay for the subscriptions! I think they only want me to help for free, alas.

People "steal" from me without attribution a lot. I find old lists without updates. in many places, even when sometimes I just put meaningless notes up on my site (sort of as a cloud), they throw them up on their pages. If I don't block access, even these meaningless notes end up on someone's page! By the way there is a 50 home run player this season. Plays for the Korean League. Park Byung-ho (or Byung-ho Park). He has 51 so far, last season he had 52. Their record is 56. The Asian record is 60, (in the Japanese League). A female is 3rd in the country (on the MaxPrep lists) for high school extra point scoring. A product of her team running up the scores.

[oldecapecod11]

by luckyshow » Sun Sep 27, 2015 5:57 am
"I would only have the Manchester All-Stars if they were based in the United States, even nominally (meaning they played only "road" games in the UK.) I think all I have for the UK as of now, is the BritBowl and now abandoned post-season games in Scotland. I also have the NFL Europe championship games. This Manchester team played in Manchester, correct? (UK not NH). The London Monarchs won the 1991 World Bowl. The Barcelona Dragons won in 1997, lost two more. That was the World League of American Football, which did include American teams. (The Sacramento Surge beat the Orlando Thunder, 21-17, in the 1992 World Bowl played in Montreal...)"

The area of partial familiarity with the Manchester All-Stars is the late '80s - early '90s. The league in which the Manchester All-Stars played
in that time frame was nowhere near the level of the NFL Europe-type leagues. Most low-level minor league football teams in the US
would have probably won the title in any given year.
A few leagues in the Northeast (Eastern Football League, Empire Football League, e.g.) had teams that visited Ireland for a game at least
once in their history. The multi-year champion Hyde Park (MA) Cowboys (aka Billy's Cowboys) was one of those teams as was the
Taunton (MA) Raiders and Randolph (MA) Oilers. Perhaps the Middleboro (MA) Cobras did as well or the Albany (NY) Metro-Maulers and
maybe the Marlboro (MA) Shamrocks. These teams were approached by representatives of the Manchester club.

For those who might want to chase down some additional data, here are some (OLD) contact names.
Other information might be available through the AFA.
Hyde Park - Larry DeVoe, former GM, Guard and AFA HoF member; Taunton - Owner Pat Vadala killed landing his airplane in Massachusetts;
(His son now owns his business which was to refurbish fire apparati - will get the name and post later.) Middleboro - Jeff Mendall
or Wayne Lee - former GMs, c/o Mitchell Memorial Club, Middleboro; Marlboro - Tom Landry (not THE TL) former GM and a former ADA
in whatever County Marlboro is located; and Albany - Jim Baker - former GM who kept that team together for quite some time mostly
by jumping between EFLs. (The Oneida (NY) Silver Bullets and the Johnstown (NY) ???s did the same thing.)

Anyway, someone with access to the Manchester print media of the period could probably get more data. (Yes, Paul - Manchester, UK.)

[luckyshow]

I'll see what I can find. It might get complicated as there were also semi-pro teams from Manchester, New Hampshire, which did sometimes play those same teams like from Hyde Park, etc. Manchester Riflemen were one, though they were from Manchester, Connecticut.