The Arizona Cardinals are the 46th most valuable sports team in the world, according to a report by Forbes magazine released Monday.
Per Forbes, the Cardinals are worth $2.15 billion, unchanged from one year ago. The Cardinals are one of 52 teams on Earth worth at least $2 billion. In 2012, just one team (Manchester United FC) was worth at least $2 billion.
"The values of sports teams have skyrocketed on the backs of ballooning media rights deals and more owner-friendly collective bargaining agreements that restrain player costs," Forbes' Kurt Badenhausen wrote.
Forbes measures each team's value based on published valuations over the last year. The value of each team reflects enterprise values, which factors in equity and debt.
The Dallas Cowboys ($5 billion) are estimated to be the most valuable team in the world, followed by the New York Yankees ($4.6 billion), Real Madrid $4.24 billion), FC Barcelona ($4 billion) and the New York Knicks ($4 billion).
The Cardinals are the 23rd most valuable NFL team among all 32 franchises, according to Forbes. Overall, the Cardinals are ranked just ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals of major League Baseball and right behind Liverpool FC of the English Premier League.
Of the 50 most valuable teams in the world, 26 are NFL teams, nine are MLB teams, eight are soccer teams and seven are NBA teams.
