Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones isn’t planning on selling his beloved franchise anytime soon, even if the number comes in above Forbes' estimated $8 billion valuation.
“I wouldn’t sell the Cowboys for $10 [billion],” Jones told Yahoo Finance (video above). “Of course, I’m not interested in selling the Cowboys."
Jones' comments come just months after Walmart (WMT) heir Rob Walton bought the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion in June, marking the most expensive professional sports purchase ever and solidifying the National Football League (NFL)’s increased valuations over the past several years.
Still, the Cowboys are estimated to be the world's most valuable franchise.
Jones attributed the rising valuations in the NFL to the increased eyeballs watching the sport — NFL shared broadcast revenue hit a record $347.3 million in 2021 and will increase with Amazon's $1 billion deal — and owners like himself. Since he and others would never sell their teams, an advantageous supply-demand scenario is created for any potential seller. (Clark Hunt, whose family has owned the Kansas City Chiefs since their inception in 1959, also recently told Yahoo Finance the NFL valuation "hasn't topped.")
Creating a lucrative franchise wasn't Jones' initial goal, though, when he bought the team in 1989 for a then-record $150 million.
"I had a little money," Jones said. "I'd done it in gas business. I had a little money, but what I wanted to do was coach football. I never thought that I could be involved in something that would have economic viability. The fact that it does … and has for the last 30 years, beyond anything I could have ever imagined, is just a major plus. So I think there's a future of values that will exceed what Denver went for, for sure."
Another major value driver for the NFL is viewership. The league started 2022 with viewership numbers surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
Prior to the current season, the NFL signed a $1 billion deal with Amazon (AMZN) for the streamer to have exclusive rights for Thursday Night Football, with the first game airing on Sept. 22 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers.
Jones described the experience as “epic.”
“Frankly, the picture for the National Football League in the entire time I've been associated with it has never been better because of the continued interest,” he said.
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Josh is a reporter and producer for Yahoo Finance.
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