Forbes names Lakers 15th most valuable franchise in world, No. 3 in NBA

In the annual rankings of the world's most valuable sports franchises, the Lakers came in third in the NBA and in the top twenty worldwide.

The Lakers have long been considered one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world and certainly in the NBA and this year’s newest Forbes rankings maintained that yet again. The annual rankings have always featured the Lakers near the top and remained there this season, coming in No. 3 in the rankings of most valuable NBA franchises.

As has been the case in recent years, the Warriors rank No. 1 in the league and the Knicks come in at No. 2. The Lakers are valued by Forbes at $5.9 billion, coming just below the $6.1 billion valuation of the Knicks and well below Golden State’s $7 billion valuation.

Throughout the years, the Lakers have regularly been a top-2 team with the New York Knicks. Only in more recent seasons have the Warriors overtaken the two sides to become the most valuable franchise.

The Lakers’ value has increased by 79% over the last five years. Comparatively, and to the previous point, the Warriors' value has increased 126% in the last five years.

Overall, the Lakers are the 15th-most valuable franchise in the world. The NFL dominated the list as nine of the teams ranking above them are football franchises. The 49ers and Manchester United both came in at $6 million valuations to finish just above the Lakers while the Washington Commanders are narrowly above that at $6.05 billion.

What does all this mean? Not much for fans, really. More than anything, next time the Lakers don’t pay an Alex Caruso that extra $15 million, remember that’s just a small drop in the bucket for what the team is worth.

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