The Warriors are still the NBA’s most valuable team, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who unveiled the website’s updated NBA franchise valuations for 2025 on Thursday.
Badenhausen projects the Warriors’ value at $11.33 billion, which represents an incredible 24% increase from last year’s $9.14 billion valuation. The NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, at $12.8 billion, continue to be the only global sports franchise whose valuation comes in higher than Golden State’s, according to Sportico’s projections.
As Badenhausen outlines, the Warriors lead the NBA in revenue by a significant margin, having generated an estimated $833MM last season. Golden State makes more than $5MM per game in ticket revenue, along with $2.5MM from luxury suites; the club also has a $45MM per year jersey patch deal with Rakuten, earns almost double what any other team makes in sponsorship revenue, and is one of the few teams to fully own and operate its arena, per Sportico.
After placing third a year ago, the Lakers have jumped to second place on Sportico’s 2025 list at $10 billion, based on Mark Walter‘s recent agreement to purchase the team at that valuation. The Lakers moved slightly ahead of the third-place Knicks, who come in at $9.85 billion.
Every team’s valuation has increased by at least 9% since last year, per Sportico, with the average value of an NBA franchise now at $5.51 billion (up 20% from 2024) and no team worth less than $4 billion.
The average valuation has more than doubled since 2022, when it was $2.58 billion. As Badenhausen writes, the NBA’s new $76 billion media rights deal and its global ambitions – including the possible creation of a league in Europe – have played a part in those gains.
Although the Warriors’ $833MM is something out of an outlier, NBA teams generated an average of approximately $408MM in revenue last season, according to Badenhausen, with the Grizzlies coming in last at $301MM. Memphis also ranks 30th on Sportico’s list of franchise values.
Despite placing at the bottom of this list, the Grizzlies actually had the most significant increase in their franchise valuation this past year, rising from $3.06 billion to $4 billion (31%). The Pelicans (30%), Timberwolves (29%), and Eastern Conference champion Pacers (27%) were the other biggest risers.
Of course, it’s worth noting that figures from Sportico or any other media outlet are just estimates and often don’t quite match up with the sale prices for franchises that change hands. But these projections are usually in the right ballpark and remain useful for getting a sense of the league’s most and least valuable teams.
Here’s Sportico’s full list of NBA franchise valuations for 2025:
- Golden State Warriors: $11.33 billion
- Los Angeles Lakers: $10 billion
- New York Knicks: $9.85 billion
- Los Angeles Clippers: $6.72 billion
- Boston Celtics: $6.35 billion
- Brooklyn Nets: $6.22 billion
- Chicago Bulls: $6.12 billion
- Miami Heat: $6.03 billion
- Philadelphia 76ers: $5.61 billion
- Houston Rockets: $5.53 billion
- Dallas Mavericks: $5.24 billion
- Toronto Raptors: $5.22 billion
- Phoenix Suns: $5.09 billion
- Atlanta Hawks: $5.02 billion
- Sacramento Kings: $5 billion
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $4.86 billion
- Denver Nuggets: $4.8 billion
- Washington Wizards: $4.78 billion
- Indiana Pacers: $4.76 billion
- Milwaukee Bucks: $4.54 billion
- San Antonio Spurs: $4.5 billion
- Oklahoma City Thunder: $4.34 billion
- Utah Jazz: $4.27 billion
- Portland Trail Blazers: $4.25 billion
- Minnesota Timberwolves: $4.24 billion
- Orlando Magic: $4.21 billion
- Detroit Pistons: $4.17 billion
- Charlotte Hornets: $4.13 billion
- New Orleans Pelicans: $4.02 billion
- Memphis Grizzlies: $4 billion
As Badenhausen notes, Sportico’s projections are based on a control sale price, rather than limited stake purchases. Controlling shares in the Celtics, Lakers, and Trail Blazers all changed hands this past year, though only the Celtics sale has been formally approved by the NBA so far.
William Chisholm is buying the Celtics in two stages, with an initial valuation of $6.1 billion and a blended valuation of roughly $6.5 billion. Walter is purchasing the Lakers at a valuation of $10 billion, while Tom Dundon is buying the Blazers at a $4.25 billion valuation.