Toronto Maple Leafs Worth $1 Billion; What Teams Are Worth The Most?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the first NHL team to be worth $1 billion. The Maple Leafs join a small elite of professional teams at the $1 billion mark.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the most storied franchises in the NHL, indeed in all North American sports, and are is now the most valuable. Forbes estimates the NHL team is worth $1 billion. The Toronto Maple Leafs were founded in 1917 and were one of the NHL's “Original Six” teams.

Not surprisingly, all of the “Original Six” teams were the most valuable NHL franchises. The New York Rangers were second with an estimated worth of $750 million, Montreal Canadiens ($575 million) were third, Chicago Blackhawks ($350 million) were fourth, Boston Bruins ($348 million) were fifth and Detroit Red Wings were sixth with an estimated worth of $346 million.

The Maple Leafs join several teams that are worth $1 billion or more. Surprisingly, no National Basketball Association team is worth $1 billion, with the Los Angeles Lakers being the league's most valuable team at $900 million, notes Forbes.

In the National Football League, there are 20 teams that are worth $1 billion or more. According to Forbes, the most valuable NFL team is the Dallas Cowboys with an estimated worth of $2.1 billion.

For Major League Baseball, there are three teams that are worth $1 billion or more, according to Forbes. First is the New York Yankees, worth an estimated $1.85 billion, followed by the Los Angeles Dodges ($1.4 billion) and Boston Red Sox ($1 billion).

While the NFL may have the most teams worth more than $1 billion, it does not have the world's most valuable team. That honor goes to Manchester United with an estimated worth of $2.235 billion. Real Madrid ($1.877 billion), Barcelona ($1.307 billion), Arsenal ($1.292 billion) and Bayern Munich ($1.235 billion) are the other soccer teams that are worth more than $1 billion, notes Forbes.