Hometown Glory

Dallas Cowboys rule as NFL's most valuable team for 10th straight year

The Dallas Cowboys franchise is worth a lot of dough.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Cowboys

Surprising no one, the Dallas Cowboys have been named the most valuable team in the NFL for the 10th straight year. And it has been only a couple of months since Forbes also declared the Boys the most valuable team in the world.

The Cowboys are worth $4.2 billion (up 5 percent), with $700 million in revenue. The New England Patriots are a very distant second, valued at $3.4 billion and $523 million in revenue.

According to Forbes, relocation and new stadiums drove NFL team values 19 percent higher over the past year, to an average of $2.34 billion. Says author Mike Ozanian:

But because business acumen counts for more than bricks and mortar, none of the moving or building is going to unseat the Dallas Cowboys as the league’s most valuable team. In 2015, the Cowboys set a U.S. sports team record for both revenue ($700 million) and operating income ($300 million). Jerry Jones has begun marching towards another financial score with his new $1.5 billion headquarters and practice facility. My early take is there will eventually be tens of millions of dollars of sponsorship money flowing to the Cowboys from the new project. The Cowboys already have deals with the likes of Ford Motor (I have to admit, it amuses me that the family that runs the automaker and also owns the Detroit Lions is paying Jones), Nike and Dr. Pepper.

Team values are enterprise values (equity plus net debt) based on the multiples of revenue of historical transactions, as well as current offers to buy and invest in teams. The values are adjusted for teams moving into new stadiums.

Revenue and operating income are for the 2015 season (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), net of revenue sharing, and stadium debt service. Revenue from non-NFL events, e.g., concerts and stadium tours, is included when the revenue is pocketed by team owners or an entity they control.

Rounding out the top five are the New York Giants ($3.1 billion), San Francisco 49ers ($3.0 billion), and Washington Redskins ($2.95 billion). The Houston Texans rank No. 9 ($2.6 billion).

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Weed News

Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Dallas over decriminalization of marijuana

Photo courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife

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The City of Dallas has been sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for its efforts to decriminalize marijuana.

According to a release, Paxton has sued the city for adopting a city charter amendment that would decriminalize marijuana-related offenses and prohibit police from enforcing Texas law.

That amendment was Proposition R, or Dallas Freedom Act, which decriminalizes possession of four ounces of marijuana or less. Voters passed the amendment in the November 5 election, with 67 percent voting in favor.

The lawsuit, filed against the Dallas City Council, alleges that Proposition R is unconstitutional and violates Texas drug laws criminalizing any amount of marijuana.

Paxton says that cities can't "pick and choose which state laws to follow." He's proposing a permanent injunction to stop Proposition R from going into effect.

"The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them," says Paxton in a statement. "This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office.”

Before the recent election, possession of two to four ounces of marijuana could result in a punishment of 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Ground Game Texas, the activist nonprofit that has also helped get marijuana decriminalization on the ballot in elections across Texas, first got the issue on the ballot in July with the necessary 50,000 signatures.

Dallas is not the only city to be sued; Paxton also filed lawsuits against five other cities in Austin, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos in January for their ballots and policies decriminalizing marijuana.

Both Austin and San Marcos had a judge overturn their cases, according to a FOX 4 report.

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