The fastest-growing brands in sports

By Peter J. Schwartz

updated 5:22 p.m. ET Aug. 6, 2007

There's more competition than ever before when it comes to vying for the entertainment dollar, making a powerful brand a top priority for many professional sports teams.

No American sports team has done this as well as the New York Yankees, who are worth $1.2 billion and have set themselves apart by establishing their own cable TV network and forging a $95 million partnership with German apparel maker Adidas. Parent company Yankee Global Enterprises has also reached player development and sponsorship agreements with Chinese and Japanese companies in hopes of broadening its reach.

Efforts are already paying off: Yankees home attendance increased by 800,000 over the past four years, to 4.2 million last season, despite rising ticket prices. The Yankees brand, worth $217 million, has increased in value 44 percent the past three years and is the most valuable in baseball.

Market size plays a big role in the value of a team, and few teams can hope to match the Yankees brand. But buying a team location is not something an owner can usually change. Image and prestige — the constitution of a brand — are something management can directly control and alter by dint of performance, marketing, integrating revenue sources and public relations. Increasing a team's brand value is essential, not just for landing the best stadium and sponsorship deals domestically, but for selling merchandise and media platforms abroad.

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Forbes calculated the brand value of the 122 teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB by adding up their revenues from sponsorships, naming rights, local media, tickets and merchandise not attributable to demographics.

Unlike rights fees from national media deals, which are distributed equally amongst all teams in a league, revenue generated from these streams remain almost entirely in a team's own coffers. Because our study focused on growth rather than absolute value, it is not surprising that most of the teams on our list are turnaround situations.

The Toronto Blue Jays, owned by cable titan Ted Rogers, were floundering until Rogers Communications bought controlling interest of the team and stadium and meshed them into one marketing powerhouse with cable and radio properties. The Blue Jays are once again contenders to make the post-season, bringing fans back to the Rogers Centre. Although the brand value of the Blue Jays is just $33 million, $21 million below the league average, it has increased 127 percent the past three years. A stronger brand has helped double the value of the team to $344 million.

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