Cowboys remain the most valuable NFL franchise

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If they gave out Lombardi Trophies for franchise value, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would need a bigger trophy case.

For the 12th straight year, the folks at Forbes have named the Cowboys the most valuable franchise in the NFL. For 2018, the Cowboys have increased in value by four percent, to a whopping $5 billion.

The Patriots come in second at $3.8 billion, followed by the Giants at $3.3 billion, the Rams at $3.2 billion, and Washington at $3.1 billion. (Imagine what Dan Snyder’s team would be worth if fans actually showed up for the games.)

Of course, there’s really no way to know a team’s true value without putting it up for sale and letting the open market bid on it. That doesn’t happen very often, and there really aren’t many people who can afford to purchase an NFL franchise when it is available to be bought.

Even without a For Sale sign in the front yard, it’s always difficult to put a dollar value on a privately-owned business. Of all NFL teams, only the Packers can be properly valued because only the Packers are publicly owned.