The billionaire fatcats at over Forbes magazine have taken a break from lighting their cigars with government bailout money to rank all 32 NFL franchises in terms of their profitability and total monetary value. And according to their rankings, the Raiders are the lowest-valued NFL franchise.
The Dallas Cowboys, who still can't even beat us in a preseason game, came in on top as the most valuable franchise at $1.65 billion. The Raiders were ranked last at number 32, with a net value of "only" $797 million.
And that's before Randy Hanson gets any of his settlement money.
It's hasn't always been this way for the Raider franchise, but the economy has been particularly tough on this team. The Raiders have lost 7% of their value in the last year, the biggest drop of any team. The combination of a recession plus a few ill-advised free agent signings has hurt the franchise in the short term.
There are, of course, advantages to being lower on this list. The teams at the top of the list are the ones that screw their fans the most ruthlessly on ticket prices. The New England Patriots are third on the net worth list, and they charge the most for their tickets.
But don't shed any tears for Al Davis because of the Raiders' net worth. Remember, Davis bought the team in 1966 for only $180,000.
He's increased the net worth of his investment by, oh, only about 4,500 percent.
Sports
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who sees by looking at the cover that Forbes Magazine is only worth five dollars.
