Brooklyn Nets didn't make Forbes's 2014 list of 50 Most Valuable Sports teams. Now they're #24.

It's astounding, isn't it?

The Brooklyn Nets didn't come too close to making Forbes's list of The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2014, in which #50, AC Milan, was valued at $856 million. 

(At the time, the Nets were valued at $780 million, more than doubling in two years.)

But they're now in the top half of the magazine's latest list, The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2015, valued at $1.5 billion (since January).

That's not because the Nets started selling that many more tickets. In fact, some season ticket prices most recently went down.

Nor is it that the Nets stand to have a strong season, given that they're represented in the Forbes slideshow by the non-star Jarrett Jack and pundits at Sports Illustrated predict they'll be the league's fifth-worst steam.

New TV deal makes the difference

But, as Forbes reports, pro sports team owners are making big money from new media deals: 

The NBA inked a $2.66 billion-a-year deal in October with ESPN and TNT, which was triple the previous rate. 

So that's meant a re-set:

The world’s 50 most valuable sports teams are now worth $1.75 billion on average, up 31% from 2014. The minimum valuation to make the cut is $1.15 billion, versus $856 million a year ago, thanks largely to the soaring worth of NBA and MLB teams. The top 50 includes 22 baseball and basketball franchises, compared to only 10 in 2014.

So, not so bad a time for minority owner Forest City Enterprises to be selling the 20% share of the team owned by Nets Sports & Entertainment.