The recent sale of a storied NBA franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers, has triggered a wave of interest in the value of professional sports teams, including those in the NFL. In a recent article for Sports Illustrated, NFL insider Albert Breer listed the four NFL teams that are valued higher than the Lakers, with one worth approximately $14.2 billion.
Valuation of NFL Franchise to Soar After $10 Billion Los Angeles Lakers Sale
Professional sports teams at the highest level don’t often change hands, but when they do, it can have enormous, market-altering implications. The last NFL team to be sold was the Washington Commanders, who were purchased for a then-record for an American sports team, with the figure set at $6.05 billion.
The majority share of the Lakers franchise, previously owned by the Buss family, was purchased by Mark Walter for an estimated $10 billion. Unsurprisingly, it hasn’t taken long for comparisons to be made with NFL teams, with Breer singling out four franchises that would be happy to see the figures involved.
“No one was happier about the $10 billion valuation on the Los Angeles Lakers’ sale than NFL owners,” Breer wrote. “Per the latest Forbes list, the Cowboys, Rams, Patriots and Giants are all more valuable than the Lakers, whose valuation was set then at $7.1 billion by the magazine. That wound up being 40.8% low. So if that’s the math (and obviously this isn’t perfect math), and you add that percentage to the Cowboys’ $10.1 billion valuation, you get to $14.2 billion on Dallas.”
Could a Storied NFL Franchise Be Headed for the Market?
While not one of the four teams mentioned by Breer, the Seattle Seahawks have been tipped as one NFL team that could be up for sale following the Lakers deal. In a recent episode of “NFL Spotlight with Ari Meirov,” the NFL insider tipped the NFC West team as one to watch.
Somewhere, an NFL owner is going to see the Lakers’ $10 billion valuation and eventually decide to make a similar move. The #Seahawks have long been viewed as a team that could go up for sale in the near future.
From today’s episode: https://t.co/XxmMIyNeKQ https://t.co/Ndru8yUO6Y pic.twitter.com/0ZEdSMh71k
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) June 19, 2025
“Knowing the NFL and knowing how these owners operate and knowing how the NFL wants to hold every single record, whichever NFL team eventually goes up for sale, and there will be one, somebody’s going to wake up and just say, you know what, let me get out of this now,” said Meirov.
That anticipation has only grown as speculation swirls about which franchise could be next to hit the market. Among all the possibilities, one team continues to draw the most attention according to Meirov.
“So I do think it’s going to happen eventually, and I’ll just say this much, the one team that everybody has been waiting for, these last number of years, has been the Seattle Seahawks,” continued Meirov.
The Seahawks are currently controlled by Jody Allen, the sister of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who bought the team in 1997 and passed away in 2018. Allen is already in the process of selling her late brother’s NBA franchise, the Portland Trailblazers, and could eventually be inclined to do the same with the Seahawks.