Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors celebrates
Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors celebrates after his team defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-110 in Game 6 of the First Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 1, 2026 in Toronto.
Rogers Communications Inc. is laughing all the way to the bank, according to a new report on NBA franchise valuation.
The juggernaut assumed full control of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment recently, buying out the shares of Larry Tanenbaum’s Kilmer Sports as part of the deal made years ago when Rogers and Bell teamed up with Tanenbaum’s company to buy out the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
Sportico‘s annual report on NBA franchise valuations, released Friday, had the Raptors worth $6.47 billion US, 11th in the league.
According to reports, Rogers had paid Kilmer closer to a valuation of $5 billion for the Raptors (Sportico had them at $5.22 billion last year). Overall, for Tanenbaum’s 25% stake of MLSE, Rogers paid just north of $3 billion.
While the Toronto Maple Leafs are the crown jewel of the empire, NBA franchises are generally worth far more than NHL ones because of much more lucrative broadcast agreements.
In terms of valuation, the Maple Leafs aren’t far behind the Raptors, leading all NHL teams at $4.8 billion, according to Sportico’s NHL report released in late September.
Rogers did even better when it bought out Bell’s 37.5% stake in MLSE in 2024. Back then the Raptors were valued at $4.1 billion by Sportico. Back then 37.5% of all of MLSE was valued at only $3.46 billion.
The bottom line is Rogers is doing quite well so far and that’s before all of the synergies of moving its sporting empire under one umbrella come to fruition.
Which NBA teams are worth the most?
The Golden State Warriors lead the way in valuation for the fifth straight year at $14.5 billion. That’s way up from $11.33 billion last year.
Only the Dallas Cowboys are worth more amongst global sports franchises.
The defending champion New York Knicks are next amongst NBA franchises at $12.8 billion, the Los Angeles Lakers just behind at $12.5 billion, followed by the Los Angeles Clippers at $8.21 billion, the Chicago Bulls at $8.13 billion, the Miami Heat at $8.05 billion and the Boston Celtics at $8 billion.
Only nine franchises are valued under $5 billion, with the Memphis Grizzlies at $4.2 billion ranking last.
Sportico had the average NBA team worth $6.64 billion, up 21% from 2025 and up 183% from 2020.