Trying to value a sports team isn't always the easiest thing to do. The teams generally aren't a publicly traded entity, so there isn't a public record of how much they are worth, like there would be if they were publicly traded. However, there are ways to set a value on a sports team. 

Athletes

One way to start valuing a team is to look at the athletes on the team. There are a lot of teams who have a star athlete, one whose name is a big draw. While that player generally has a much larger contract than other members of the team, the fact that the one player has a huge draw can balance that out because people are going to come to the games just to see that person, whether the game is a home game or an away game. People are also more likely to buy that player's merchandise, even if they aren't a particular fan of the entire team. They may just want to support their geographically local team. 

Ticket Sales

Most teams don't want to admit how much their ticket sales are for each game, but it is possible to get a reasonable estimate. During most games, the amount of spectators is generally mentioned, especially if the crowd is a sold-out crowd. It's not really possible to know how many people are there for which team, but knowing how many butts are in seats is more possible. Then, using the prices of the different kinds of tickets, it's possible to come up with an estimate, even if it's just a range between two possible numbers. Tracking the team's ticket sales not just game by game, but also over a couple of seasons, makes it possible to get an idea as to whether the sales are going up, down, or staying relatively stable. If the ticket sales are going down, that shows that there is a problem with the team and that the value of the team is going to start going down. If someone is looking to buy a team and they have a plan to get ticket sales trending back up, this may be a good time to enter into negotiations for the team. 

Valuing a sports team isn't easy, but if anyone is interested in trying to acquire part or all of the team, then it's something that has to be done. For more information, contact a company like Sports Value Consulting, LLC.