Well, they are "America's Team" for a reason.
After watching quarterback Tony Romo orchestrate a game-winning drive to give the Dallas Cowboys a 27-26 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has another reason to smile.
Forbes has ranked the Cowboys as the most valuable NFL team, estimating their worth at $4 billion. In addition to being the most valuable team in the league, the Cowboys are the most valuable team in sports, period — now edging Real Madrid ($3.26 billion), the New England Patriots and New York Yankees (each worth an estimated $3.2 billion) and FC Barcelona ($3.16 billion).
After the Cowboys, the Patriots ($3.2 billion), Washington Redskins ($2.85 billion), New York Giants ($2.8 billion) and San Francisco 49ers ($2.7 billion) round out the top five for most valuable NFL franchises. Forbes also lists the average NFL franchise as worth $2 billion, which is a 38 percent increase from last year and is by and large a product of the league's national television rights being increased by $39 million.
The Cowboys' estimated value of $4 billion is quite remarkable, considering Jones purchased the team in February 1989 for $140 million. As Forbes points out, that's an absurd 1,382-percent increase to its current evaluation.
What will surely give Jones another reason to smile is if the Cowboys could win their first Super Bowl since 1996. Although winning their first game of the 2015 season marks a good start, they'll have to function for the next four to six weeks without star wide receiver Dez Bryant, who broke a bone in his foot Sunday and will need to undergo surgery.
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