REVEALED: Three NBA clubs rank among the world’s four most valuable sports teams with the struggling Chicago Bears ahead of Manchester United – and the Super Bowl-champion Chiefs in 33rd… so who sits at No. 1?

Sportico’s annual list of the sports world’s most valuable teams offered a range of surprises, from the NFL’s lowly Chicago Bears ranking at 12th, to the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs landing all the way at 33rd.

Less surprising: the Dallas Cowboys are still the most valuable team in sports.

The team that Jerry Jones bought for $140 million in 1989 now regularly tops the annual valuations of both Sportico and Forbes. And while Sportico did not include specific estimates in the top 100 list released Tuesday, the sports company’s website previously valued the Cowboys at $9.2 billion in August.

Forbes, meanwhile, estimated in September that the Cowboys have seen an 80 percent increase in value over the past five years, thanks in large part to an NFL media deal that could be worth $126 billion to the league by 2033 and the fact that Jones owns the cash cow of the 80,000-seat club, AT&T Stadium.

Among non-NFL teams, the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers ranked second, third and fourth respectively, while Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees were fifth after the takeover by Juan Soto. Strangely enough, the Premier League couldn’t make it into the top 10. And outside of Manchester United (13), the only three other football teams in the top 30 were Spain’s Real Madrid (19) and Barcelona (23), as well as Liverpool (29). ).

Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund celebrates a December goal with Jonny Evans

Juan Soto will make $31 million in his first season in New York, but is expected to sign for more

The most notable trend on the list has little to do with team success, but rather a team’s ability to take advantage of a modern stadium or arena. That’s likely why the Chiefs — and the 52-year-old Arrowhead Stadium — were outpaced by the rival Las Vegas Raiders (15), who take advantage of the four-year-old Allegiant Stadium, home of Super Bowl LVIII. (Kansas City is currently hoping to renovate Arrowhead to increase stadium revenue)

Formula 1 teams did reach the top 100, including Ferrari (71) and Mercedes (81), while Red Bull finished in 88th place.

Other football teams in the top 100 include Bayern Munich (34), Manchester City (35), Arsenal (57), Paris SG (60), Tottenham (70) and Juventus (98).

No MLS teams made Sportico’s top-100 list and only a handful of NHL clubs qualified: Toronto Maple Leafs (82), New York Rangers (85), Chicago Blackhawks (94), Boston Bruins ( 97) and Philadelphia Flyers (100). .

Sportico has released its top 100 list of the most valuable sports franchises on social media

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989 for $140 million. Now it is worth $9 billion

Both LeBron James’ Lakers and Stephen Curry’s Warriors are among the top 10 on the list

Another curious trend emerging from the Sportico rankings is that winning a title does not necessarily allow a team to move up the table.

The defending champion Chiefs (33), Denver Nuggets (61), Texas Rangers (92) and Vegas Golden Knights (unranked) are all outside the top 30.

Meanwhile, the 4-13 Washington Commanders (11) remained among the most valuable teams in the world, as did the 6-11 New York Giants (5) and the 4-13 New England Patriots (8).

In fact, twelve of the top twenty teams play in the NFL, which is coming off the most-watched Super Bowl ever with 123.7 million viewers.