525: Sportico's Kurt Badenhausen on What It Takes to Value a Sports Franchise

Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson welcome Kurt Badenhausen, Sports Business Reporter at Sportico and one of the pioneers of sports franchise valuation journalism, to break down how teams are valued, why those numbers keep climbing, and what a record-breaking week in sports business really tells us about the industry. Badenhausen walks through the methodology behind franchise valuations, explaining why revenue multiples, not profits, are the standard measure, and how factors like market size, venue situation, and media rights shape the final number. The conversation covers the NFL’s latest valuations, including the mind-bending reality that the least valuable team in the league is worth more than almost every other sports franchise on the planet, as well as the Lakers’ $12.5 billion sale, the Apollo-Yankees deal, and what private equity’s growing appetite for sports ownership actually means for the market. The discussion also tackles the WNBA’s surging valuations, why MLB’s numbers lag behind despite its massive content library, and what categories (from real estate to fan data) could drive the next wave of franchise value growth.Connect with Kurt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurt-badenhausen-90bb185/Subscribe to the CUSP Show: SubstackThe CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR) and produced by Sam Henry (@s_henry11), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with social media efforts led by Lissa Ruiz and Sydney Cristall. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com