Still new to the world soccer scene, Austin FC is going toe to toe with long-standing clubs worldwide as the club made its debut on the list of most valuable soccer teams on earth.
The list, which is published by sports finance and analytics website Sportico, sees Austin FC slot in at 21 on a list that features 50 clubs from around the world.
With an estimated value of $800 million, Austin FC — which is currently in its 4th season — is the youngest team on this list by a sizable margin. The team’s success is a testament to how a city hungry for professional sports has embraced its first major sports team.
Who tops the list and where do other MLS clubs rank?
As you may have guessed, the top of Sporticos list is populated by English, German and Spanish giants. The top five teams in this year’s rankings are as follows: Manchester United ($6.2 billion), Real Madrid ($6.06 billion), FC Barcelona ($5.28 billion) , Liverpool ($5.11 billion) and Bayern Munich ($4.8 billion).
The MLS, despite being a relatively new league on the world stage, was well-represented in the top 20 as five teams were ranked ahead of Austin FC. The MLS clubs included in the top 20 were as follows.
LAFC (#15 – $1.15 billion), Atlanta United (#17 – $1.05 billion), Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami (#18 $1.02 billion), LA Galaxy (#19 – $1 billion) and New York City FC (#20 – $840 million).
Austin FC’s value grew by $170 million last year
Austin FC continues to grow rapidly as its 6th place ranking in the MLS is three spots higher than Sportico ranked the club last season.
According to the website, the club’s value grew from $630 million to $800 million after the 2023 season — and it excelled in each of the magazine’s core financial measures.
How does Sportico measure the value of a team?
Sportico estimates that Austin FC’s value is around $800 million — which is a 27% increase from the season before. The website determines value by combining the sum of the current market value of an MLS franchise with the value of team-related businesses and real estate holdings to determine the rankings.
The first major category, MLS franchise valuation, is described by the website as being “derived from metrics by which soccer team transactions typically occur, including aggregating local and national revenues and factoring in a team-specific multiplier.”
This includes the value of each franchise’s 3.4% interest in Soccer United Marketing — the marketing arm of Major League Soccer — which is acquired/dispossessed in tandem with the sale of a team.
The other category is the value of a franchise or franchise owner’s equity in team-related businesses. According to Sportico, “These assets represent a small percentage of MLS total values at this stage; the predominant value in most cases involves training complexes and new stadiums owned by teams, although a government organization often owns the land underneath the home venues.”
How did Austin FC become so valuable so fast?
Since its first season in the MLS, Austin FC has continued to grow in important financial statistics like revenue and value. In 2021, the team’s estimated revenue was $50.5 million, and that has grown in 2023 to approximately $87 million, according to Forbes.
Sportico values Austin FC at $800 million, an increase from the $575 million that it estimated two years prior. Some of this financial success and increasing value can be attributed to reliable consumption from fans.
According to the MLS, the jersey of star playmaker Sebastián Driussi ranks as the fourth-most purchased jersey in the league. Moreover, according to soccer media outlet GOAL, Austin FC boasts the 11th-best attendance record in the MLS, despite many teams having a larger stadium than Austin FC’s Q2.
One area of growth for the club is in its social media presence as its Instagram profile, which contains 206k followers, is on the lower end of the MLS table.
Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email Bsalgado@gannett.com.
