How 'bout them Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys break record as world’s most valuable sports team

The Cowboys are on top again.

It appears America’s Team also is the world’s team, at least from a monetary standpoint.

A new ranking from Forbes magazine, released July 22, places the Dallas Cowboys at No. 1 among the most valuable sports teams on the planet.

The NFL team that Jerry Jones bought 30 years ago for a paltry $140 million holds the title, for the fourth consecutive year, of the world’s most valuable sports franchise. The current estimated value of the ’Boys: $5 billion. No other sports team has ever reached that milestone. The No. 2-ranked New York Yankees are worth a mere $4.6 billion.

“Jones has capitalized on the insatiable appetite for all things Cowboys,” Forbes declares.

While on-the-field success has fallen short of the team’s goals, its financial success has scored more than a few touchdowns.

Forbes notes that Jones & Co. has generated an estimated $340 million in sponsorship and premium-seat revenue at AT&T Stadium, which opened in 2009. That’s twice as much as any other team, the magazine says.

On top of that, nine of the 50 most-watched sports TV broadcasts in 2018 were regular-season games involving the Cowboys, according to Forbes.

Forbes reports the team’s value rose 4 percent from $4.8 billion in 2018. The franchise’s operating income totaled $365 million in 2017, or $1 million a day. The magazine says that’s a record amount of income for any professional sports team.

Back when Jones purchased the Cowboys in 1989, the team was worth a measly $60 million.

Donald Trump — now U.S. President, but then a New York real estate developer — once boasted that he could have bought the Cowboys for $50 million. But he passed on the deal.

“I feel sorry for the poor guy who is going to buy the Dallas Cowboys,” Trump told The New York Times in 1984. “It’s a no-win situation for him, because if he wins, well, so what, they’ve won through the years, and if he loses, which seems likely because they’re having troubles, he’ll be known to the world as a loser.”

The cash-cow Cowboys aren’t the only Dallas team on this year’s Forbes list.

The NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, owned by Mark Cuban, appear at No. 43 in the global ranking. Forbes pegs the team’s value at $2.25 billion, up 18 percent from 2018. Cuban’s team slam-dunked an operating income of $99 million in 2017.

Five places ahead of the Mavericks are the NBA’s Houston Rockets, tied at No. 38. Forbes estimates the value of the franchise at $2.3 billion, up 5 percent from 2018. Tilman Fertitta’s team netted an operating income of $103 million in 2017.

The NFL’s Houston Texans, meanwhile, are locked in a tie at No. 22. For 2019, the estimated value of the Texans is $2.8 billion — unchanged from 2018. The team, owned by Janice McNair, notched an operating income of $161 million in 2017, Forbes says.

No other Texas sports teams made this year’s Forbes list.

Rounding out the top five behind the Cowboys and Yankees are the Real Madrid soccer team (No. 3, $4.24 billion), Barcelona soccer team (No. 4, $4.02 billion), and NBA's New York Knicks (No. 5, $4 billion).

Forbes bases its valuations on each team's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization, known in business circles as EBITDA. This is a key measurement of a team’s financial performance.

forbes sports lists rankings dallas-cowboys

population report

Booming Dallas suburb was the fastest-growing city in the U.S. in 2024

City of Dallas - City Hall/Facebook

Dallas' population has grown to nealry 1.33 million residents.

The Dallas suburb of Princeton grew faster than any other city in the United States in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The new population report said Princeton's population has more than doubled in the last five years. The city saw a dramatic growth rate of 30.6 percent from July 2023 to July 2024, now boasting a population of just over 37,000 residents. The suburb is located 42 miles northeast from downtown Dallas.

The report also revealed Dallas retained its No. 9 spot on the list of the 15 most populous cities in the U.S. Dallas gained more than 23,000 residents during the one-year period, bringing the city's population to 1,326,087 people in 2024.

Elsewhere across North Texas, Fort Worth surpassed 1 million residents and eclipsed Austin as the 11th largest city in the nation. Fort Worth had the fifth-highest numeric increase in population last year, 23,442 residents, to bring the city's total population to 1,008,106 residents.

Houston and San Antonio were the only Texas cities to have higher numerical growth rates than Fort Worth. Houston gained 43,217 residents – the second-highest increase nationwide – while San Antonio ranked No. 4 in growth with an additional 23,945 residents.

Austin has yet to surpass the 1 million population threshold and has a population of 993,588 residents, the report says. The city now ranks 13th on the list of most populous U.S. cities after ranking 11th in 2024.

Sandwiched between No. 11-Fort Worth and No. 13-Austin is San Jose, California, whose population of 997,368 puts it in the 12-largest spot.

Fastest growing U.S. cities
Six additional Texas cities made the list of fastest-growing U.S. cities, with several in the DFW Metroplex:

Fulshear, near Houston (No. 2) with 26.7 percent growth (54,629 total population)
Celina (No. 4) with 18.2 percent growth (51,661 total population)
Anna (No. 5) with 14.6 percent growth (31,986 total population)
Fate (No. 8) with 11.4 percent growth (27,467 total population)
Melissa (No. 11) with 10 percent growth (26,194 total population)
Hutto, near Austin (No. 13) with 9.4 percent growth (42,661 total population)

The Austin suburb of Georgetown's growth has continued to slow since 2023, and it no longer appears in the list of fastest-growing cities. However, it did surpass 100,000 residents in 2024.

San Angelo, a small city in West Texas, also surpassed the 100,000-population threshold.

Most populous U.S. cities in 2024
New York City maintained its stronghold as the biggest in America in 2024, boasting a population of nearly 8.5 million residents. Los Angeles and Chicago also retained second and third place, with respective populations of nearly 3.88 million and more than 2.7 million residents.

"Cities in the Northeast that had experienced population declines in 2023 are now experiencing significant population growth, on average," said Crystal Delbé, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. "In fact, cities of all sizes, in all regions, showed faster growth and larger gains than in 2023, except for small cities in the South, whose average population growth rate remained the same."

The 15 populous U.S. cities as of July 1, 2024 were:

No. 1 – New York, New York (8.48 million)
No. 2 – Los Angeles, California (3.88 million)
No. 3 – Chicago, Illinois (2.72 million)
No. 4 – Houston, Texas (2.39 million)
No. 5 – Phoenix, Arizona (1.67 million)
No. 6 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1.57 million)
No. 7 – San Antonio, Texas (1.53 million)
No. 8 – San Diego, California (1.4 million)
No. 9 – Dallas, Texas (1.33 million)
No. 10 – Jacksonville, Florida (1 million)
No. 11 – Fort Worth, Texas (1 million)
No. 12 – San Jose, California (997,368)
No. 13 – Austin, Texas (993,588)
No. 14 – Charlotte, North Carolina (943,476)
No. 15 – Columbus, Ohio (933,263)

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How 'bout them Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys break record as world’s most valuable sports team

population report

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