Forbes: Cardinals’ value remains stagnant, revenue increases

It was a busy offseason for the Arizona Cardinals with the hire of Steve Wilks as the new head coach, the signing of Sam Bradford and the selection of Josh Rosen in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Though the personnel may have changed, the team is worth the same amount of money as 2017.

According to Forbes’ 2018 NFL team valuations, the Cardinals are worth $2.150 billion, the exact same value the team had in 2017. This number places Arizona in the middle of the pack at 23rd in the NFL for the 2018 season.

Though the franchise’s value remained stagnant between 2017 and 2018, it’s worth noting that Arizona’s value is more than double what it was in 2014 when the franchise was worth just $1 billion.

While overall team value didn’t change from 2017 to 2018, the Cardinals’ operating income actually decreased since last year. This year, Arizona’s operating income is $74 million, compared to last year’s figure of $87 million.

However, one figure that increased for the Cardinals in 2018 is total revenue. In 2017, the Cardinals generated $370 million in revenue, but in one year’s difference, that number increased by $10 million to $380 million.

At the top of the Forbes list, the Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable team in the NFL for the 12th consecutive season and the world’s most valuable sporting franchise.

“America’s Team” is worth $5 billion, which is a 4 percent increase from 2017. For the 2018 season, the Cowboys have a revenue of $864 million and an operating income of $365 million.

At the other end of the scale, the Bills are the least valuable NFL franchise in 2018.

Despite their first playoff appearance since 1999 last year, the Bills are worth just $1.6 billion, and the team generates the fourth-lowest revenue in the NFL.

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