Top 5 Most Valuable NFL Football Franchises

Dec. 8, 2013 — -- intro:

With pro football season in full swing and the playoffs starting at the end of December, fans of the pigskin can claim victory in the number of NFL teams that make the Forbes list of most valuable sports franchises. NFL teams scored 12 of the top 20 rankings on the list. By contrast, Major League Baseball teams claimed three of the top 20 spots.

Read on to see which NFL teams ranked among the five most valuable football franchises.

quicklist:title: Dallas Cowboyscategory: $2.1 billionmedia: 21126731text: Owned by Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys have been the most valuable team in the NFL since 2007, thanks to $200 million from sponsorships and premium seating revenues -- the highest in the league.

Read More on Bankrate: 5 money-losing investments by NFL players

quicklist:title: New England Patriotscategory: $1.635 billionmedia: 21126563text:

Owned by Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots have sold out every game since the Gillette Stadium opened in 2002 and have a waiting list of 60,000 for season tickets.

Read More on Bankrate: 10 of the richest NFL players

quicklist:title: Washington Redskinscategory: $1.6 billionmedia: 21126406text: Owed by Daniel Snyder, the team scored a victory with its 2012 draft pick of Robert Griffin III, who led the team to its first National Football Conference East Division title since 1999. Sales of his jersey set the single-season record on NFLshop.com.

Read More on Bankrate: 10 highest-paid baseball players

quicklist:title: New York Giantscategory: $1.468 billionmedia: 21126223text: Owned by John Mara and Steven Tisch, the Giants won two Super Bowls in five years. MetLife is paying in excess of $425 million over 25 years for naming rights to the stadium shared by the Giants and the Jets.

Read the original story on Bankrate.

quicklist:title: Houston Texanscategory: $1.305 billionmedia: 21126059text: Owned by Robert McNair, this team generates $47 million a year from 200 luxury suites and 8,900 club seats. Reliant Energy is also paying $300 million over 30 years for stadium-naming rights.

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.