WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE SPORTS TEAMS COMPARED TO CHURCHILL DOWNS AND PENN NATIONAL GAMING

Churchill Downs Inc. and Penn National Gaming are the two biggest publicly traded companies in the United States owning horse-racing tracks, using stock-market capitalization as the criterion.  Both own a large portfolio of regional casinos in the United States.

According to recent stock prices, the market capitalization for Churchill Downs Inc. is approximately $6.9 billion and the value of Penn National Gaming is about $7.2 billion.  How do these figures compare to the ten most valuable sports teams around the globe? 

Following are recent estimates from Forbes magazine of the most valuable sports franchises in the world.  The numbers in parentheses designate how much the current owners paid for their franchises.

Dallas Cowboys $5.5 billion ($150 million)
New York Yankees $5 billion ($8.8 million)
New York Knicks $4.6 billion ($300 million)
Los Angeles Lakers $4.4 billion ($268 million)
Golden State Warriors $4.3 billion ($450 million)
Real Madrid $4.3 billion (not available)
New England Patriots $4.1 billion ($172 million)
Barcelona $4.02 billion (not available)
New York Giants $3.9 billion ($500 million)
Manchester United $3.81 billion ($1.4 billion)

When the pandemic began to take a toll in March 2020, forcing most casinos and racetracks to close, Churchill Downs stock plunged to a low of $52.90 per share, giving it a market capitalization of $2.1 billion.  Similarly, Penn National Gaming stock ebbed at $3.75 per share, with an imputed market capitalization of $516 million.  Since then, the stock prices of both companies have soared, making them more valuable than any sports franchise…at least temporarily.

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