Lakers ranked 15th most valuable franchise

Despite their abysmal season, the Lakers were ranked the 15th most valuable sports team by Forbes, the second most valuable NBA franchise. Valued at $1.35 billion, the Lakers were the beneficiary of their record-breaking TV deal, which is set to pay them out $3.6 over the next 20 years. Here’s what Forbes said about them:

"The Lakers kicked off their blockbuster $3.6 billion, 20-year TV deal with Time Warner with the 2012-13 season. The club had its worst season on the court this year since the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1960."

Despite finishing with (statistically speaking) the worst season since moving to LA, the Lakers still remain one of the most valuable franchises. In fact, the Knicks beat out the Lakers by “just” $50 million, valued at $1.4 billion. The other two franchises from the NBA to be featured in the top 50 list were the Bulls ($1 billion) and the Celtics ($875 million).

Real Madrid found themselves on top of the list, valued at $3.44 billion. In fact, the top three were soccer teams, with Barcelona second ($3.2 billion) and Manchester United ($2.81 billion). The Yankees were fourth at $2.5 billion and the Cowboys at $2.3 billion rounded out the top five.

Given how the Clippers recently sold a record-breaking $2 billion dollars, it’s interesting to think how much the Lakers would sell for, from a purely hypothetical standpoint. $5 billion? $10 billion? Let us know below how much you think the Lakers are worth.