Forbes: Brooklyn Nets rank #36 among the world's 50 most valuable sports teams (and #6 in NBA)

From Forbes, a new 7/18/18 article (and list) on the world's 50 most valuable sports teams:

The biggest gainer among the 50 richest teams is the Rockets, who shot up 14 spots to No. 40 at $2.2 billion after Tilman Fertitta closed on his deal to buy the team in October. Fellow NBA teams, Brooklyn Nets ($2.3 billion) and Golden State Warriors ($3.1 billion), also jumped at least ten places, with the league’s international growth prospects the best of any U.S. sports league and big market franchises valued at record multiples of revenue.

It's not just international growth, or even potential gambling revenue, it's that NBA teams are "paintings for billionaires," and one of them, Joe Tsai, was willing to pay (in stages) $2.3 billion for the Nets.

What's interesting is the ratio of team value to operating income, which suggests the Nets are overvalued. (Note that I find the Forbes calculations confusing.)

Consider that the teams more highly valued than the Nets are valued at less than three times operating income, while the Nets are valued at more than four 44 times income:

• 7. New York Knicks ($3.6 billion/$140 million)
• 8. Los Angeles Lakers ($3.3 billion/$136 million)
• 10. Golden State Warriors ($3.1 billion/$120 million)
• 23. Chicago Bulls ($2.6 billion/$95 million)
• 27. Boston Celtics ($2.5 billion/$85 million)
• 36. Brooklyn Nets, $2.3 billion/$52 million)
• 40. Houston Rockets ($2.2 billion/$95 million)
• 41. Los Angeles Clippers ($2.15 billion/$35 million)

So the Clippers also seem an anomaly, though Forbes noted that a "new TV deal with Fox Sports last season... pays roughly $50 million a year" and, presumably, will increase income.