CNBC's Michael Ozanian reports on the world's most valuable sports empires in 2025.

CNBC has released its inaugural list of the most valuable sports empires for 2025, with a combined value of $225 billion among the top groups. Cronky Sports and Entertainment leads the rankings at $21.2 billion, followed by Jerry Jones's Cowboys Empire and the Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment Group. Fenway Sports Group and Madison Square Garden Sports also feature in the top five.

The report explains that the value of these empires often exceeds the sum of their individual assets due to synergies and economies of scale. Investments in related businesses, such as venue hospitality and regional sports networks, further enhance the value of these conglomerates. The trend of building multi-team and multi-business portfolios is expected to continue as owners seek to maximize revenue and operational efficiencies.

World's most valuable sports empires in 2025

CNBC is out today with our list of the most valuable sports empires of 2025. Now, these are the biggest names, reshaping the business of sports with a combined value of $225 billion. Taking the top spot in this inaugural first ever year is Cronky Sports and Entertainment, worth $21.2 billion. Then there's Jerry Jones's Cowboys Empire, which takes the second spot, valued at more than $15 billion. The Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment Group comes in third place at $14.6 billion. And then Fenway Sports Group and Madison Square Garden Sports round out the top five. So that's kind of how we define empires. So joining us now is the man behind that list, CNBC Sports senior reporter Michael Ozanian. You've been doing valuations for sports teams for a long time now, more than I should probably admit and everything else. But you know this stuff. So how exactly do you assign a value to a portfolio? It's got to be some of the parts. But how do you get to it? Yeah, it's actually, Don, the interesting thing and what we've seen when these sports empires have sold minority interests like Stephen Ross, like Ted Leonce's Monumental and most recently Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which Rogers Communications just bought a majority stake in after owning a minority stake, is that the value of the empire is worth considerably more than the sum of the parts. And that's why this is a growing trend. Mark Walter, for instance, who owns the Dodgers and has investments in F1 and professional women's ice hockey, is just striking a deal to become the controlling owner of the L.A. Lakers, which is going to be another big sports empire. And you get tremendous synergies. You know, the same reasons that you guys always talk about in business with other companies, you get scale, you get economies of scale. You don't have to increase your cost as much as you're building your asset portfolio. So think of it as a way where the sports team is sort of like the head of the octopus and all these other investments, whether it's a business like Legends that the Cowboys owns, which is venue hospitality or a regional sports network like Leonce's owns or the Yankees own. Those are sort of the other tentacles that you could improve and generate more revenue.

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