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America’s free market is on full display in the world of sports, and patriots should be proud. A new Forbes analysis shows what happens when private enterprise, fan demand, and hard-nosed business deals are allowed to thrive instead of being strangled by bureaucracy and endless regulation. The result is staggering wealth creation that benefits communities, employees, and taxpayers when owners reinvest in arenas and local economies.
A quarter-century ago the big four leagues were worth roughly $30 billion collectively; today that number tops half a trillion dollars as franchises have become blue-chip assets. No team exemplifies that climb like the Golden State Warriors, whose value surged from the low hundreds of millions to roughly $11 billion—a jaw-dropping appreciation of more than 6,400 percent. Fans and investors who stuck with their teams through the lean years have been richly rewarded by the same market forces conservatives trust to build prosperity.
On absolute dollars, the Dallas Cowboys remain the crown jewel, now a $13 billion juggernaut and the clearest example of brand power and smart investment in action. These aren’t accidental wins; they are the product of shrewd management, lucrative media deals, and American companies and consumers valuing entertainment and community. That kind of growth should make any taxpayer proud to live in a nation where entrepreneurship pays off.
The payoff for early investors reads like a lesson in capitalism: owners who bought teams for hundreds of millions in 2000 now sit on assets worth multiples of their initial purchase prices. Forbes highlights real examples—owners like Woody Johnson and Stan Kroenke whose bets on teams and infrastructure returned fortunes and expanded job opportunities around their franchises. This is the kind of wealth creation Washington should encourage, not tax into oblivion.
A big reason for the boom is the explosion in media rights and national broadcast deals that send enormous, predictable revenue to teams and leagues. Those contracts have turned franchises into institutional cash machines and insulated many clubs from short-term downturns, proving once again that long-term contracts and private-sector negotiation beat central planning every time. Conservatives should celebrate the muscle of these market agreements rather than demonize successful owners.
Let’s be clear: the cultural hand-wringing from elites about what athletes say or where owners donate their money has done nothing to slow economic momentum. If anything, the resilient growth of franchise value shows that fans, ticket buyers, and corporate partners reward quality entertainment and winning brands more than performative outrage. The lesson for conservatives is to keep defending merit, profitability, and the freedoms that let these businesses flourish.
Instead of joining the chorus that wants to punish success with higher taxes and more regulation, conservatives should press for smart policies that encourage investment, protect property rights, and keep stadium deals transparent so communities genuinely benefit. Sports are American, from the grassroots booster club to the billionaire owner, and protecting that ecosystem means defending free enterprise for all hardworking citizens.
