The NFL is now closer to moving back to Los Angeles with news that St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke plans to build an 80,000-seat stadium in Inglewood, a move that would more than double the value of his franchise.
In the latest valuations released by Forbes.com, the Rams were dead-last, with a value of $930 million. Meanwhile, teams in the top-5 TV markets (L.A. is no. 2) all rank among the eight most valuable teams with an average value of $2.11 billion and those numbers are almost certainly on the conservative side as the Cowboys are probably worth closer to $5 billion.
The Buffalo Bills, valued just above the Rams at $940 million, recently sold for $1.4 billion. If teams in the top-5 TV markets are undervalued at the same rate, they would be worth $2.54-4.79 billion with an average of $3.16 billion and there is no reason to think an L.A. team wouldn't be at the upper-end of that range.
So, while a new stadium may cost Kroenke $1 billion to build, he will more than make up for it with the increase in the value of the Rams alone.
