Forbes has released a list of the most valuable brands in sports in the following categories: businesses, events, athletes and teams. UFC made the list, coming in at No. 10 among sports business brands, while Wrestlemania made the sporting event brands list at No. 8.
While the estimated value of the UFC is $1.65 billion, Forbes says the actual UFC brand is worth $440 million. They also list the WWE’s WrestleMania event brand at $105 million.
From Forbes.com:
For businesses that are not publicly traded, or are subsidiaries of another company, the brand value is the difference between the estimated value of the business brand and what the value of a similar business is worth. Example: the UFC, a new member of the Fab 40. The estimated value of the mixed martial arts promotion company is $1.65 billion (15 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), while the average business with the same profitability would be worth $1.21 billion (11 times operating income). The UFC brand is worth $440 million ($1.65 billion minus $1.21 billion).
Sporting event brands are based on revenue-per-event-day. … A new member among Fab 40 events is WrestleMania, an annually staged event put on by WWE, the most successful professional wrestling promotion in the world. The WrestleMania brand is worth $105 million by my calculations, placing it eighth among sporting events. In April, WrestleMania 30 broke the record for the Mercedes-Benz Superdome’s highest grossing entertainment event, marking the fifth-consecutive year WrestleMania broke the host venue’s single day revenue record.
See the complete list below.
BUSINESS BRANDS:
1. Nike ($19 billion)
2. ESPN ($16.5 billion)
3. Adidas ($5.8 billion)
4. Sky Sports ($4.5 billion)
5. Under Armour ($4.1 billion)
6. Reebok ($880 million)
7. YES ($680 million)
8. NESN ($525 million)
9. MLBAM ($520 million)
10. UFC ($440 million)
EVENT BRANDS:
1. Super Bowl ($500 million)
2. Olympic Summer Games ($348 million)
3. Olympic Winter Games ($285 million)
4. FIFA World Cup ($170 million)
5. NCAA Men’s Final Four ($143 million)
6. UEFA Champions League ($139 million)
7. MLB World Series ($113 million)
8. WrestleMania ($105 million)
9. Daytona 500 ($100 million)
10. Kentucky Derby ($99 million)
TEAM BRANDS:
1. New York Yankees ($521 million)
2. Real Madrid ($484 million)
3. Barcelona ($438 million)
4. Dallas Cowboys ($404 million)
5. Manchester United ($399 million)
6. New England Patriots ($351 million)
7. Bayern Munich ($287 million)
8. Los Angeles Dodgers ($279 million)
9. Boston Red Sox ($260 million)
10. Los Angeles Lakers ($254 million)
ATHLETE BRANDS:
1. Lebron James ($37 million)
2. Tiger Woods ($36 million)
3. Roger Federer ($32 million)
4. Phil Mickelson ($29 million)
5. Mahendra Singh Dhoni ($20 million)
6. Usain Bolt ($19 million)
7. Cristiano Ronaldo ($17 million)
8. Kobe Bryant ($15 million)
9. Lionel Messi ($12 million)
10. Rafael Nadal ($10 million)
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