Real Madrid, Dallas Cowboys Top Forbes' 2015 Most Valuable Sports Franchise List

It's no secret that sports of all kinds has become one of the biggest businesses in the world. That's more evident with the release of Forbes' 2015 list of the most valuable sports franchises, which is headlined by Real Madrid, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Yankees. 

According to Forbes' Kurt Badenhausen, Los Blancos top the list for the third consecutive year with a value of $3.26 billion. 

"Real Madrid won its record 10th Champions League crown in 2014 and had the highest revenue in all of sports at $746 million," Badenhausen wrote. "Real banked a profit of $171 million on the backs of top talent like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale."

Here's what the full top 10 looks like:

Rank	Team	Sport	2015 Value (Billions)
1	Real Madrid	Soccer	$3.26
T2	Dallas Cowboys	NFL	$3.2
T2	New York Yankees	MLB	$3.2
4	Barcelona	Soccer	$3.16
5	Manchester United	Soccer	$3.1
T6	Los Angeles Lakers	NBA	$2.6
T6	New England Patriots	NFL	$2.6
8	New York Knicks	NBA	$2.5
T9	Los Angeles Dodgers	MLB	$2.4
T9	Washington Redskins	NFL	$2.4

Full list, including teams 11-50, can be found at Forbes.com by clicking here.

There are two things that really seem to determine the value of a sports franchise. First, success on the field or court. Real Madrid and Barcelona have won the last two UEFA Champions League titles. The New England Patriots won their fourth Super Bowl in 14 years in February. 

The other major factor is location, whether it's the city a team plays or its stadium. The Cowboys' new stadium that opened in 2009 cost $1.2 billion. The Yankees and Lakers haven't won titles in more than five years, but the name value and playing in New York and Los Angeles is huge. 

Badenhausen also noted how the rise of television deals in major sports is playing a critical role in the value of every franchise:

"

The NBA inked a $2.66 billion-a-year deal in October with ESPN and TNT, which was triple the previous rate. Regional sports networks are committing to long-term deals with baseball teams, like the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 25-year, $8.35 billion contract with Time Warner Cable. The English Premier League joined the party in February with a $2.7 billion-a-year pact with Sky, which kicks off in 2016 and represents a 70% bump on the current deal.

"

Yet there's no touching the money made by the NFL in television money, as Badenhausen wrote the league made $5 billion from networks last year and has a $1.5 billion-per-year deal with DirecTV for the Sunday Ticket package. 

There's a ton of money floating around in professional sports right now. It's no wonder that sale prices for franchises have gone through the roof, even as some numbers cause outsiders to raise their eyebrows in wonder. 

Just know that if you have a few billion dollars lying around, you could own a marquee sports franchise.