History has a way of repeating itself, and the same goes for the New England Patriots ranking in Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's most valuable sports franchises. This year the Patriots came in at the same spot as last year: sixth. The only difference is that they are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The franchise is valued at an estimated 1.4 billion making it the third-most valuable franchise in the NFL behind the Cowboys and Redskins. All 32 NFL clubs are in the Forbes 50 list, thanks to its lucrative broadcast contracts with four major networks.
From Boston.com:
British soccer club Manchester United, the world's most popular soccer team, remained number one, valued at 2.23 billion, the only team to come in over 2 billion. Another soccer team, Real Madrid, was second at 1.88 billion.
The Patriots weren't the only Boston team who received a spot on the top 50. The Red Sox came in at 24th, valued at 1 billion.