Highest earning pro sports team in the world

[Hector]

Not...not the Yankees...not the Cowboys.

That distinction goes to Real Madrid...

Real Madrid becomes highest earning sports team ever - Dirty Tackle - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports

Barcelona, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich...are also above any American sports teams...

Soccer is KING...

[thunderbolt]

I watch soccer when I need a nap, at least Hockey has the fun of playing basically the same game with weapons.

[Hector]

Not a hockey guy.

Baseball...now that's the most boring sport in the world...lol.

But I love the NFL, the NBA...and the World Cup rules...

[Hector]

Boxing and MMA kicks arse too...

[thunderbolt]

with me going pay tv free, all I watch now is NFL when its not blacked out here in Tampa.

[Hector]

[Adam West]

The one problem I have with professional soccer is no real opportunity for parity among teams. Real Madrid is basically an all star team of the best players in the world. There is no revenue sharing and no salary cap....and even no ownership so zero incentive for any kind of profit. Also, the figures are slightly inflated due to the Euro-U.S. exchange rate. With that said, I love soccer but much more from the World Cup point of view than any club professional soccer.

[Brad]

The article didn't make sense to me. I read it to mean that while they are the highest grossing revenue team they are not the highest net profit team. It went on to say that "just one of the seven English clubs on Deloitte's list turned a profit". HUH? I know that the majority of NFL teams make huge profits each year. And you really can't go by the NFL teams "reported" revenue because it doesn't include all their areas of revenue. It is the profit sharing from TV money, merchandise (may not be all merchandise-not sure), and gate receipts but it doesn't include stuff like luxury boxes, concession sales, etc. as that revenue is not shared. The NFL is the best at cooking the books!


How long has the oldest soccer team been in existence? I know the Bears have been in the NFL since the start in 1920 and are still owned by the same family. I am an NFL, NBA, and NHL fan. The rest just don't hold my attention very well with the exception of the MLB playoffs. MLB is too slow to watch (much more fun to play) and there are just way too many games per season.

[Shanester]

I watch soccer when I need a nap, at least Hockey has the fun of playing basically the same game with weapons.

Amen brother! Hockey was the most fun I ever had as a kid/young adult.

[Adam West]

The article didn't make sense to me. I read it to mean that while they are the highest grossing revenue team they are not the highest net profit team. It went on to say that "just one of the seven English clubs on Deloitte's list turned a profit". HUH? I know that the majority of NFL teams make huge profits each year. And you really can't go by the NFL teams "reported" revenue because it doesn't include all their areas of revenue. It is the profit sharing from TV money, merchandise (may not be all merchandise-not sure), and gate receipts but it doesn't include stuff like luxury boxes, concession sales, etc. as that revenue is not shared. The NFL is the best at cooking the books!


How long has the oldest soccer team been in existence? I know the Bears have been in the NFL since the start in 1920 and are still owned by the same family. I am an NFL, NBA, and NHL fan. The rest just don't hold my attention very well with the exception of the MLB playoffs. MLB is too slow to watch (much more fun to play) and there are just way too many games per season.

Sheffield F.C. 1857. Actually, the Cardinals are considered the oldest NFL franchise since they were in existence prior to 1920 and had the Cardinals name right from the start. The Bears also started before 1920 but started off as the Decauter Stayleys (sp?). Some Redskins fans would also argue that they have been around since the beginning...Duluth Kelleys then Duluth Eskimos, Newark Tornadoes, Newark Orange...went defunct and purchased by George Preston Marshall the following year became the Boston Braves, Boston Redskins and fnally the Washington Redskins.

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

Amen brother! Hockey was the most fun I ever had as a kid/young adult.

Agreed...I was captain of the hockey team...only it was grass hockey due to the lack of snow and ice. Great way to take out your frustrations hehe.

[Brad]

Sheffield F.C. 1857. Actually, the Cardinals are considered the oldest NFL franchise since they were in existence prior to 1920 and had the Cardinals name right from the start. The Bears also started before 1920 but started off as the Decauter Stayleys (sp?). Some Redskins fans would also argue that they have been around since the beginning...Duluth Kelleys then Duluth Eskimos, Newark Tornadoes, Newark Orange...went defunct and purchased by George Preston Marshall the following year became the Boston Braves, Boston Redskins and fnally the Washington Redskins.

While the Cardinals (Chicago, St. Louis, Arizona) were around before 1920 (as were the Packers) since the NFL (first known as the American Professional Football Association then became the NFL in 1922) started in 1920, IMO the oldest teams were the initial group that are still active today. Besides, they were the Morgan Athletic Club, the Racine Normals, the Racine Cardinals, then finally became they became the Chicago Cardinals in 1920. The Packers didn't join until 1921 but they are the only team that didn't change names.

The Decatur Staleys were started by George Halas who was working for the Staley Starch Company. The company paid for the uniforms and as part of the deal in which Halas took ownership of the team they were the Chicago Staleys in 1921. In 1922 the name was changed to the Bears to try and cash in on the popularity of the Cubs. The team colors (Orange and Navy Blue) were taken from his alma mater the University of Illinois.

So if you discount any teams started before there was a pro league then the Cardinals and the Bears are the only teams that remain from the original group that formed the league in 1920. Actually the Packers can be traced back to 1896 so really they are the oldest football team. So it depends on how you want to look at it. I use the founding of the league in 1920 as the starting point. That would leave you with the following;

Bears
Cardinals both 1920

Packers 1921

NY Giants (there were actually 3 NY Giant football teams but 2 folded) 1925

Lions 1930
(originally joined as the Portsmouth Spartans and changed to the Lions in 1934 when they moved to Detroit)

If you can't tell I love the history of the NFL.


So many teams came and went back then. Some of them had great names too. One of my favorites was the Moline Tractors.


Here are the original teams from the first forming of the league;

Canton Bulldogs
Cleveland Tigers
Dayton Triangles
Akron Professionals
Rochester (N.Y.) Jeffersons
Rock Island Independents
Muncie Flyers
Decatur Staleys
Chicago Cardinals
Hammond Pros

[Adam West]

The Cardinals never changed names...just cities. I think that is why they claim (at least in their minds) to have the oldest continuous NFL franchise (no name change), but agreed that the Bears and Cardinals are the two oldest teams.

I think there were a few other teams that joined in 1920 somewhere Mid-Season and also had some bizarre names.

[Brad]

The Cardinals never changed names...just cities.

I thought the same thing but do some Google digging and you will find the same info I found. If I am wrong I apologize but I found the same info in more then one site.

It is funny that the NFL all started right here in the Midwest in a bunch of small towns.

I do know that one common mistake is that people think the Packers have always been owned by the people. That is not true. It was originally owned by John Cline of the Indian Packing Company which was bought by the Illinois based Acme Packing Company in 1921. Then they lost the franchise once for cheating (using college players under assumed names) and Halas insisted they keep a franchise in Green Bay (how forward thinking was he) so that's when they sold the franchise to Curly Lambeau. Then later a fan fell in the old City Stadium and sued the team. That threw the team into receivership so again Halas helped organize a huge rally to raise money to save the team. Hence the public ownership.

Now this info was not easy to find at the time but back when I was studying the history of the NFL (I know, I need a life-LOL) I read that 2 local businessman put up the final money (somewhere in the $100,000-200,000 range I think) to save the team and the team is technically deeded to the Boys Club in Green Bay. That may be why they are still considered a non-profit company. Can anyone confirm this?

Man am I an NFL geek. I never knew you could be one but I sure am.

[Adam West]

Just to clarify, they never changed their name since what is considered the formation of the NFL which was 1920. The Cardinals were the Morgan Athletic Club, the Racine Normals but changed the name to the Cardinals in the early 1900's (prior to 1920) and has never changed its last name from the 1920 season. The Bears played in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys, 1921 as the Chicago Staleys, and changed its name to the Chicago Bears in 1922. The Cardinals and Bears are the only two teams who are recognized to be original charter members of the NFL still in existence since 1920 but the Cardinals have the distinction of never having changed their last name from 1920-. I am also an early NFL geek