{"id":132777,"date":"2026-02-13T18:58:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/132777\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:58:07","slug":"forbes-values-new-york-city-fc-over-1-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/132777\/","title":{"rendered":"Forbes values New York City FC over $1 billion"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to\u00a0Forbes, Major League Soccer now has five billion-dollar clubs \u2014 and New York City FC is one of them.<\/p>\n

The financial publication just\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0its annual MLS valuation, and the list is topped by Inter Miami ($1.35 billion), which edged out LAFC ($1.32 billion) to take the lead spot. The Top 5 is rounded out by LA Galaxy ($1.08 billion), New York City FC ($1.02 billion), and Atlanta United ($1 billion).<\/p>\n

According to Forbes, the MLS average club value is now $731 million, up 5.9% from the $690 million average in 2025.<\/p>\n

Club
\nValuation
\n$ Change*
\n% Change*
\nPlace Change*<\/p>\n

1
\nInter Miami
\n$1.35 billion
\n$150 million
\n12.5%
\n+ 1<\/p>\n

2
\nLAFC
\n$1.32 billion
\n$70 million
\n5.6%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

3
\nLA Galaxy
\n$1.08 billion
\n$80 million
\n8.0%
\n\u2014<\/p>\n

4
\nNew York City FC
\n$1.02 billion
\n$145 million
\n16.5%
\n+ 1<\/p>\n

5
\nAtlanta United
\n$1 billion
\n$25 million
\n2.6%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

6
\nSeattle Sounders
\n$860 million
\n$60 million
\n7.4%
\n+ 1<\/p>\n

7
\nAustin FC
\n$855 million
\n$30 million
\n3.6%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

8
\nColumbus Crew
\n$805 million
\n$70 million
\n9.5%
\n+ 1<\/p>\n

9
\nFC Cincinnati
\n$800 million
\n$70 million
\n9.6%
\n+ 1<\/p>\n

10
\nSan Diego FC
\n$795 million
\n\u2014
\n\u2014
\n\u2014<\/p>\n

11
\nDC United
\n$785 million
\n\u2014
\n0.0%
\n– 3<\/p>\n

12
\nCharlotte FC
\n$740 million
\n$40 million
\n5.7%
\n\u2014<\/p>\n

13
\nToronto FC
\n$725 million
\n\u2014
\n0.0%
\n– 2<\/p>\n

14
\nPhiladelphia Union
\n$715 million
\n$25 million
\n3.6%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

15
\nSt Louis City
\n$710 million
\n$25 million
\n3.7%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

16
\nPortland Timbers
\n$705 million
\n$35 million
\n5.2%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

17
\nSporting Kansas City
\n$700 million
\n$50 million
\n7.7%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

18
\nMinnesota United
\n$625 million
\n$15 million
\n2.5%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

19
\nNashville SC
\n$620 million
\n$50 million
\n8.8%
\n\u2014<\/p>\n

20
\nRed Bull New York
\n$610 million
\n$30 million
\n5.2%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

21
\nChicago Fire
\n$575 million
\n$60 million
\n11.7%
\n+ 3<\/p>\n

22
\nFC Dallas
\n$570 million
\n$25 million
\n4.6%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

23
\nHouston Dynamo
\n$565 million
\n$15 million
\n2.7%
\n– 3<\/p>\n

24
\nSan Jose Earthquakes
\n$550 million
\n$10 million
\n1.9%
\n– 2<\/p>\n

25
\nNew England Revolution
\n$540 million
\n$20 million
\n3.9%
\n– 2<\/p>\n

26
\nReal Salt Lake
\n$510 million
\n$10 million
\n2.0%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

27
\nOrlando City
\n$475 million
\n\u2014
\n0.0%
\n– 1<\/p>\n

28
\nColorado Rapids
\n$450 million
\n$35 million
\n8.4%
\n+ 1<\/p>\n

29
\nVancouver Whitecaps
\n$445 million
\n$5 million
\n1.1%
\n– 2<\/p>\n

30
\nCF Montr\u00e9al
\n$440 million
\n$5 million
\n1.2%
\n– 2<\/p>\n

The Forbes valuations come on the heels of the valuations<\/a> released by Sportico on Tuesday. The numbers in Sportico are slightly more generous, with the average MLS club worth $767 million, and Inter Miami leading the league with a valuation of $1.45 billion. According to Sportico, New York City is worth $1.12 billion, which puts the club in 5th place behind Inter Miami, LAFC ($1.4 billion), LA Galaxy ($1.17 billion), and Atlanta United ($1.14 billion).<\/p>\n

Here are five observations about the MLS valuations released by Forbes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

New York City FC valued at $1.12 billion<\/p>\n

The latest Major League Soccer valuations put together by Sportico rank NYCFC as the 5th-most-valuable club in the league, with their value rising by 12% compared to 2025.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>1) Inter Miami, NYCFC, Chicago Fire are the biggest climbers<\/p>\n

Miami’s valuation grew by $150 million in 2025, giving it the biggest year-over-year increase. New York City is close behind after growing $145 million, giving the club a league-best growth rate of 16.5% \u2014 Miami is second in this category with 12.5%, and Chicago Fire third with 11.7%.<\/p>\n

In fact, Chicago jumped the most places in the league, climbing three spots to #21 with an overall valuation of $575 million. Chicago’s climb is even more impressive when you consider San Diego FC’s debut at #10 with $795 million, pushing many teams down one spot on the table.<\/p>\n

2) The Big 5<\/p>\n

Growth is not distributed evenly across the league. The five billion-plus clubs at the top of the table account for most of the league’s increase in value, adding $470 million between them this past year. The remaining 25 teams added just a combined $685 million. <\/p>\n

No teams lost value, according to Forbes. This is in contrast to the valuations in Sportico, which estimated that the worth fell for San Jose Earthquakes, Vancouver Whitecaps, and CF Montr\u00e9al. But the gap between #5 Atlanta and #6 Seattle Sounders is now $140 million \u2014\u00a0last year, there was just $50 million separating #5 New York City and #6 Austin FC. <\/p>\n

3) Just 14 Clubs operating in the black<\/p>\n

Forbes includes revenue and operating income in their figures, and even though these are estimations (see below), they give us some indication of cash flow in MLS.<\/p>\n

Just 14 of the 30 clubs in the league are making a profit. Most of those are clustered at the top of the valuation table \u2013 seven of the Top 10 are in the black \u2013 with (no surprise) Miami leading MLS with $200 million in revenue and $50 million in operating profit. <\/p>\n

Other profitable clubs include LAFC ($167 million in revenue, $14 million in operating profit), DC United ($99 million, $12 million), and Atlanta United ($105 million, $10 million). Even clubs farther down the list are operating at a profit, including #20 Red Bull New York ($75 million, $1 million), #21 Chicago ($64 million, $6 million), and #25 New England Revolution ($60 million, $1 million).<\/p>\n

The highest-ranking team operating at a loss? That would be New York City, which had $90 million in revenue and -$5 million in operating profit.<\/p>\n

4) New York City’s value increased 3x in 11 years<\/p>\n

According to the historical figures published by Forbes, New York City’s valuation rose from $255 million in 2016 to $1.02 billion today. That’s an increase of $847 million, or 332.2%. <\/p>\n

Year
\nPublication
\nValuation
\n$ Change*
\n% Change*
\nMLS Rank<\/p>\n

2026
\nForbes
\n$1.02 billion
\n$145 million
\n16.5%
\n#4<\/p>\n

2026
\nSportico
\n$1.12 billion
\n$120 million
\n12.0%
\n#5<\/p>\n

2025
\nForbes
\n$875 million
\n$25 million
\n2.9%
\n#5<\/p>\n

2025
\nSportico
\n$1 billion
\n$160 million
\n19.1%
\n#5<\/p>\n

2024
\nForbes
\n$850 million
\n$50 million
\n6.3%
\n#5<\/p>\n

2024
\nSportico
\n$840 million
\n$150 million
\n21.7%
\n#5<\/p>\n

2023
\nForbes
\n$800 million
\n$385 million
\n107.8%
\n#4<\/p>\n

2022
\nSportico
\n$690 million
\n$35 million
\n5.3%
\n#7<\/p>\n

2021
\nSportico
\n$655 million
\n\u2013
\n\u2013
\n#5<\/p>\n

2020
\n\u2013
\n\u2013
\n\u2013
\n\u2013
\n\u2013<\/p>\n

2019
\nForbes
\n$385 million
\n$107 million
\n38.5%
\n#7<\/p>\n

2018
\nForbes
\n$278 million
\n$3 million
\n1.1%
\n#7<\/p>\n

2017
\nForbes
\n$275 million
\n$20 million
\n7.8%
\n#4<\/p>\n

2016
\nForbes
\n$255 million
\n\u2013
\n\u2013
\n#3<\/p>\n

That’s significantly better than the return you’d get from the S&P 500. Had you put that $255 million in an index fund in 2015, your investment would have grown $616 million to $871 million, or 241.6%. <\/p>\n

5) The numbers are make-believe<\/p>\n

As always, we end with the same disclaimer we add to every one of these valuation reports. The numbers are as much about vibes as they are actual figures. Both Sportico and Forbes claim that they survey MLS executives and gain insider information based on granting anonymity, but neither publication publishes their raw figures.<\/p>\n

These numbers are fun to parse, but they’re make-believe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to\u00a0Forbes, Major League Soccer now has five billion-dollar clubs \u2014 and New York City FC is one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":{"0":"post-132777","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-city-news","12":"tag-ny"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}