● LIVE DESKGNOSVIA is live →TESSERA intake now open — submit your story →First stories moving through the filter →
GNOSVIA
Independent business media
The Board
The Franchise Board
The most valuable franchises in the world, by league. Every number traced to its source — valuations are estimates, not price tags.
🏈 NFL
Sportico · 2025
1Dallas Cowboys$12.8B
2Los Angeles Rams$10.43B
3New York Giants$10.25B
4New England Patriots$8.76B
5San Francisco 49ers$8.6B
🏀 NBA
Sportico · 2025
1Golden State Warriors$11.33B
2Los Angeles Lakers$10.0B
3New York Knicks$9.85B
4Los Angeles Clippers$6.72B
5Boston Celtics$6.35B
⚾ MLB
Sportico · 2025
1New York Yankees$8.39B
2Los Angeles Dodgers$7.73B
3Boston Red Sox$6.03B
4Chicago Cubs$5.69B
5San Francisco Giants$4.2B
⚽ World Football
Forbes · May 2026
1Real Madrid$9.5B
2FC Barcelona$7.5B
3Manchester United$7.2B
4Liverpool$6.2B
5Paris Saint-Germain$5.8B
🏒 NHL
Sportico · 2025
1Toronto Maple Leafs$4.25B
2New York Rangers$3.65B
3Montreal Canadiens$3.3B
4Boston Bruins$3.0B
5Los Angeles Kings$2.96B
Recent Acquisitions
Public deals only
25Los Angeles Lakers → Mark Walter$10.0B
25Boston Celtics → William Chisholm$6.1B
23Washington Commanders → Josh Harris group$6.05B
22Denver Broncos → Walton-Penner group$4.65B
25Portland Trail Blazers → Tom Dundon$4.25B
★Las Vegas Raiders (5%) → Tom Brady$122M
★Denver Broncos (minority) → Lewis HamiltonUndisclosed
★ Athlete buyer. Brady's 5% Raiders stake approved 32-0 by NFL owners, Oct 2024 (Sports Business Journal). Hamilton joined the Walton-Penner group, Aug 2022. Rank column shows deal year.
Top Earners
What the stars make
Public money only: filed salaries where they exist (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS), public auction prices (IPL), official prize money (tennis, golf), and press-reported estimates where clubs stay silent (rugby, F1, track).
🏈 NFL — by average annual value
2026 season
1Patrick Mahomes Chiefs · 8yr/$504M$63.1M/yr
2Dak Prescott Cowboys · 4yr/$240M$60.0M/yr
3Joe Burrow Bengals · 5yr/$275M$55.0M/yr
4Josh Allen Bills · 6yr/$330M$55.0M/yr
5Jordan Love Packers · 4yr/$220M$55.0M/yr
🏀 NBA — 2025-26 salary
Spotrac
1Stephen Curry Warriors · through 2027$59.6M
2Nikola Jokić Nuggets · 5yr/$276M$55.2M
3Kevin Durant Rockets$54.7M
4Jayson Tatum Celtics · 5yr/$314M$54.1M
5Jaylen Brown 76ers · 5yr/$304M$53.1M
*Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's supermax (4yr/$285M, ~$71.35M/yr — richest per-year deal ever) kicks in 2027-28; his 2025-26 salary is $38.3M.
⚾ MLB — by average annual value
Spotrac · 2026
1Shohei Ohtani Dodgers · 10yr/$700M$70.0M/yr
2Kyle Tucker Dodgers · 4yr/$240M$60.0M/yr
3Juan Soto Mets · 15yr/$765M$51.0M/yr
4Bo Bichette Mets · 3yr/$126M$42.0M/yr
5Zack Wheeler Phillies · 3yr/$126M$42.0M/yr
Ohtani's $70M is nominal — $68M per year is deferred to 2034-43. Soto's $765M is the largest total contract in MLB history. Judge ($40M/yr) just misses the cut.
⚽ World Football — reported weekly wages
Capology / press reports
1Cristiano Ronaldo Al-Nassr · to 2027£3.4M/wk
2Erling Haaland Man City · to 2034£525k/wk
3Kylian Mbappé Real Madrid · to 2029£519k/wk
4Harry Kane Bayern Munich · to 2027£415k/wk
5Mohamed Salah Liverpool · to 2027£400k/wk
Football clubs don't publish wages — these are reported figures (Capology, press). Treat as Reported, not Confirmed.
⚽ MLS — guaranteed compensation
MLSPA · 2025
1Lionel Messi Inter Miami · through 2028$20.45M
2Son Heung-min LAFC · through 2027$11.15M
3Sergio Busquets Inter Miami$8.77M
4Miguel Almirón Atlanta United$7.87M
5Hirving Lozano San Diego FC$7.63M
The players' union publishes every MLS salary. Excludes Messi's Apple and Adidas deals.
IPL auction price = one season's salary, all public. Pant's ₹27 cr (~$3.2M) is the all-time auction record.
🏎️ Formula 1 — reported base salary
RacingNews365 · 2026
1Max Verstappen Red Bull · to 2028$70M/yr
2Lewis Hamilton Ferrari · 2026 + option$60M/yr
3Charles Leclerc Ferrari · to 2029$34M/yr
4George Russell Mercedes$34M/yr
5Lando Norris McLaren$30M/yr
Teams don't publish driver pay — reported estimates, excluding bonuses and personal sponsors.
🎾 Tennis — 2025 prize money
ATP official
1Carlos Alcaraz$21.35M
2Jannik Sinner$19.12M
3Alexander Zverev$7.47M
4Alex de Minaur$6.67M
5Lorenzo Musetti$6.35M
No contracts in tennis — prize money is the pay. Alcaraz's $21.35M is the second-biggest single season in ATP history.
⛳ Golf — 2025 prize money
PGA Tour official
1Scottie Scheffler 6 wins$27.66M
2Tommy Fleetwood 1 win$18.50M
3Rory McIlroy 3 wins$16.99M
4Russell Henley 1 win$14.71M
5J.J. Spaun 1 win$13.28M
No contracts in golf — prize money is the pay. Scheffler topped the money list a fourth straight year.
Method. NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL figures are Sportico's 2025 franchise valuations (enterprise value including team-related businesses and real estate). Football figures are Forbes' May 2026 club valuations. A valuation is an estimate of what a buyer might pay — not a sale price, not revenue. Figures marked "reported" (rugby, F1, track) are press estimates — those clubs and teams don't publish pay. Tennis and golf have no contracts: prize money is the pay. Rankings refresh when the publishers update theirs.
Related reading: "Athletes as businesses" — moving through the filter.