Forbes released their annual list of most valuable franchises in the NFL. The good news is that the Oakland Raiders are worth more than a year ago. The bad news is that increase didn’t prevent the Raiders from dropping to last place on the list, making them the NFL’s least valuable franchise.
While the Raiders’ net worth rose from $785 million in 2012 to $825 million in 2013, the St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars leapfrogged the Raiders to drop the franchise into last place. The Raiders brought in $229 million in revenue last season. Compare that to the Dallas Cowboys who top the list with a net worth of $2.3 billion and brought in $539 million in revenue last year.
The Denver Broncos were the highest ranked team in the AFC West Division coming in at number 13 sporting a net value of $1.16 billion. The Kansas City Chiefs ranked 20th with a $1 billion net worth and the San Diego Chargers were ranked number 25 with a net value of $949 million.
The Raiders value has obviously been hurt by the lack of a playoff appearance since the 2002 season, as well as the passing of former owner Al Davis, who was the face of the franchise for over 50 years.
Now in their second year with head coach Dennis Allen, the Raiders will be looking to make some improvements, and in turn, raise their revenue and value in the process.
The recent injury to starting left tackle Jared Veldheer will not help matters, but with Matt Flynn staking his claim as the starting QB, and young receivers like Brice Butler making impressive plays, things could be looking up for the Silver and Black.
