Indianapolis Colts Ranked as the 19th Most Valuable Sports Franchise in the World

Despite battling through their worst season in over a decade, and in the midst of a complete organizational makeover, the Indianapolis Colts still find themselves rated as one of the most valuable franchises in the world. Forbes magazine recently released their annual list of the world’s most valuable sports franchises. Out of the top 50 franchises in any type of sports around the planet Earth, the Indianapolis Colts were ranked 19th, which isn’t too bad for a team which is totally reloaded at their general manager position, their coaching staff, and at their starting quarterback from this time last year.

At press time, the Colts still have around 2,000 unsold season tickets. Yet and still, despite recent rumors, Lucas Oil Stadium will have no trouble in selling out any remaining tickets for the Colts’ eight regular season home games in 2012. Regardless of the pitiful performances of last season and wholesale changes that are facing the Colts in the near future, many Colts fans and people around the league are hopeful and curious to see what direction this team will be heading into during the Andrew Luck era.

The Colts are valued at $1.06 billion, much of which is credited to the rental cost of Lucas Oil Stadium. The franchise pays $250,000 a year to rent the property, while the city of Indianapolis foots the bill for all of the maintenance and operating costs. Last year, the Colts were valued at $1.04 billion, and ranked at 16th on the list.

English soccer club Manchester United topped the list for the second straight year, valued at a whopping $2.23 billion. The highest-ranked NFL team was unsurprisingly the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas ranked third on the list, valued at $1.85 billion, which came in as a tie with the New York Yankees.