THE Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones’ U.S. National Football League (NFL) team, are the most valuable sports franchise in the world with a value of US$4 billion, Forbes said Wednesday.

    Soccer powerhouse Real Madrid fell to No. 2, valued at US$3.65 billion.

    The Dallas Cowboys had a terrible year on the field in 2015, but owner Jones’ bank account didn’t suffer a bit.

    The Cowboys have put together a dynasty when it comes to topping all NFL teams in Forbes’ annual rankings of most valuable sports franchises. The Cowboys took another step in this year’s list, ranking first among any team in all sports. It’s the first time since Forbes started ranking franchises in 2011 that a non-soccer team has taken the top spot.

    Real Madrid, the famous soccer team in Spain, had its value rise 12 percent in the past year to US$3.65 billion and still couldn’t hold onto the No. 1 spot. That’s because the Cowboys jumped 25 percent from last year, according to Forbes, and are now valued at US$4 billion.

    The Cowboys went 4-12 last year, but based on that figure it’s hard to say they had a bad year.

    Jones has built an incredible business. He has perhaps the nicest stadium in American sports, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and built an already strong brand into a powerhouse during his nearly three decades as Cowboys owner. Dallas hasn’t won a Super Bowl since the 1995 NFL season, but that hasn’t mattered to the franchise’s bottom line.

    The Cowboys were the only NFL team in Forbes’ top five, though the New England Patriots barely missed. The Patriots ranked No. 6 at US$3.2 billion. The Washington Redskins, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers also made the top 10.

    The biggest mover in the top 50 is Stan Kroenke’s Arsenal squad, which rose 13 spots to No. 23 with a value of US$2.02 billion. The Gunners had the most expensive season tickets in the sport this year at US$1,500-US$3,000 for adults. Arsenal also received the biggest cut of Premier League TV money this season at US$148 million, or US$7 million more than Manchester City.

    The biggest drop was the Ferrari Formula One team, which ranked 32nd in 2015, but fell out of the top 50. F1’s richest team is worth US$1.35 billion, flat from the previous year, but couldn’t keep up with the exploding franchise values in team sports.

    The breakdown by sport is 27 NFL teams (versus 20 last year), seven MLB (versus 12), eight NBA (versus 10) and eight European soccer (versus seven).

    (SD-Agencies)