Football teams are no longer the gold mines they once were for their billionaire owners - as several lost value for the first time in a decade. In the first look at the recession's impact on the NFL, Forbes magazine, in the issue that hits newsstands today, reports that while team values were flat overall in the past year, eight teams posted drops. They include the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons and Oakland Raiders.
Among those who have suffered is Manhattan developer Stephen Ross, who earlier this year plunked down $1.1 billion to buy the Miami Dolphins. However, the Dolphins' value has skidded by nearly $100 million since Ross took over, said Forbes.
The most valuable team for the third straight year is the Dallas Cowboys, owned for 20 years by Texas entrepreneur Jerry Jones.
The most profitable team - and the second-most valuable in the Forbes ranking - is the Washington Redskins. It earned 10 times more than the Cowboys, or $90.3 million last year, with a value of $1.55 billion, up 1 percent from a year ago.
New York's teams, the Giants and the Jets , ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, with the Giants' value pegged at $1.18 billion and the Jets at $1.17 billion.
The average value of an NFL team was unchanged at $1.04 billion "due to the financial climate and bad credit markets that discouraged buyers," said Forbes.
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Billionaire club
Forbes' most valuable NFL franchise rankings has our local teams smack dab in the middle.
1. Dallas Cowboys $1.65B
2. Washington Redskins $1.55B
3. New England Patriots $1.36B
4. New York Giants $1.18B
5. New York Jets $1.17B
6. Houston Texans $1.15B
7. Philadelphia Eagles $1.12B
8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers $1.09B
9. Chicago Bears $1.082B
10. Denver Broncos $1.081B
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