Let’s talk about the Least Valuable NFL Teams, which are organizations that make up the National Football League. However, the National Football League is projected to be over $9 billion in revenues this season easily making it the most lucrative professional sports league in the world. So let’s put it this way: if the winner of a marathon runs 5 minute miles straight through and I run 9 minute miles and finish, I’m still pretty happy. I’m the worst, but it still isn’t that bad. With all that nonsense said, there is a common thread between the Least Valuable NFL Teams… they’re not particularly good. They’re perennially the league’s worst teams. Now a couple of these teams have shown life of late, but overall if they’re coming into town you feel pretty good about your chances.
So here are the NFL’s Least Valuable Franchises..
5.) Detroit Lions – $900 million
If you’re a Lions fan, you’ve had a rough couple of seasons. Not because your team has stunk, well they were horrific a few years ago, but because they’ve been terrible underachievers lately. The team has had awfully high expectations, but has only made the playoffs once in the past few years. In fact, they’ve only had 15 playoff appearances in 85 years. They did win some championships before the merger, but it’s been awfully quiet in the Motor City in late December and January lately.
4.) St. Louis Rams – $875 million
The Rams are a slightly different story from the Lions. They’ve shown a pretty steady increase lately, but all-in-all have been pretty terrible for quite some time now. The ironic thing about all of these teams is they are immensely popular, but it’s hard to deny the connection between success and valuation. The Rams are on the uptick and it’s about time because that 1999 Super Bowl Championship is all, but forgotten.
3.) Buffalo Bills – $870 million
The Bills are another team that looks like they’re moving in the right direction. With that said, it’s hard denying the fact the Bills seem to be natural losers in the NFL. They haven’t sniffed the playoffs since the turn of the century and we all know what happened from 1990-1993. They have a strong little fan base up in Buffalo, but more important a loyal fan base because they haven’t had too much to cheer about lately.
2.) Jacksonville Jaguars – $840 million
It’s hard to imagine that the Jaguars have been in existence for 20 years. I can’t figure out if it seems like forever or not that long. Either way, no one seems to take notice of the Jaguars anymore because they’re that bad. The difference between their bad and the other bad on the list is the fans aren’t showing up as frequently as the other teams. That to me is a sign of the biggest danger. They aren’t too far removed from a playoff appearance in 2007, but right now the playoffs seem like an impossible dream for this squad.
1.) Oakland Raiders – $825 million
The Jaguars are the forgotten team no one cares about and the Raiders are the laughing stock of the NFL. There’s a reason the Raiders’ valuation is worst in the league – they’re the poorest managed team in the NFL. The ironic part of that is they’ve won more Super Bowls than any of the other teams on the list. They’re over a decade from a playoff appearance and there seems to be no hope in Oakland. They’re currently most-well known for embarrassing themselves year-after-year at the NFL Draft.
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