National Football League

Dallas Cowboys continue reign as NFL's richest team

Updated Aug. 1, 2022 3:56 p.m. ET

The NFL's annual valuations have been released, and the Dallas Cowboys rank atop the list once again.

The Cowboys' $7.64 billion valuation is up 10% from last year's number of $6.92 billion, Sportico.com reported,

The franchise is also $1.73 billion richer than its next closest – the Los Angeles Rams ($5.91 billion).

The squad is also $630 million richer than the New York Yankees, making Dallas the most valuable franchise in the world. The site derived its ratings from a formula that sums "the fair-market value of a franchise combined with the value of team-related businesses and real estate holdings."

Dallas Cowboys rank as the most valuable sports franchise | UNDISPUTED

Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe react to the Sportico report.

Every NFL franchise jumped at least 10% in value last season, with the Rams and Las Vegas Raiders surging the most at 26%. The league's total value broke the $4 billion threshold, moving up 18% from last season. But the Cowboys widened the gap by $180 million over the No. 2 team, from $1.57 billion.

"They're pulling away," Skip Bayless said Monday on "Undisputed." "Look at the gap between the Cowboys and the Rams. They're the biggest TV draw in sports. Every time they play, they'll set some record for the year."

But for the notorious Cowboys fan, the squad's monetary victories do nothing to wipe away to the anguish they've felt due to their losing product on the field.

"Jerry Jones got to buy them for [nothing]," Bayless said.

"He was rubbing his knuckles together. He's still winning, while we at Cowboys Nation continue to lose. It's been 9,700 days since they made it to an NFC Championship game. They've played in 15 playoff games since then, and have won four. That winning percentage ranks third from the bottom. It's impossibly wrong."

Shannon Sharpe mirrored Bayless' denunciations.

"I'm not surprised [they're No. 1], but what has it done for them?" he asked.

"How many Super Bowls have the Patriots won since the Cowboys became the most valuable franchise? They've probably been to six or seven, won three or four. We already knew the Cowboys were the most valuable franchise in all the world, [worth] more than the football teams of Europe. But at the end of the day, if you're a professional franchise, yes you care about value, but about championships? They're a car wreck. You just can't help but look."

Dallas is a prime example of the fact that earnings don't need a direct tie to Ws, but that doesn't mean they can't be influenced by winning. The financial achievements of the New England Patriots ($5.88 billion, third) through the past two decades have been fueled by Tom Brady's brilliance on the gridiron, while the Rams' recent success has helped them usurp the Pats on the leaderboard.

But both Dallas and Los Angeles can attribute some of their prosperity to off-field ventures, including investments in real estate developments, new stadiums, and partnerships with other companies, like Dallas' sponsorship deal with Blockchain.com.

Then there are teams that completely smash any correlations between profit and victories. Cincinnati is one of those, who, despite representing the AFC in February's Super Bowl, came in at the 32nd ($2.84 billion) spot.

A survey of the Bengals' fanbase would likely return a predominantly positive ardor regarding the team's current state, and though the Cowboys comprised five of the league's 10 most-watched games in 2021, the same can't be said for their own faithful.

They're the NFL's most profitable franchise by far, but the ultimate prize continues to elude the 'Boys: a Super Bowl win.