There's never been a better time to own a professional sports franchise, particularly in Boston.
Forbes released its annual ranking of the 50 most valuable franchises in sports this week, and three Boston teams -- the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox -- made the list. The Boston Bruins did not make the list, but neither did any other NHL franchise. In fact, even if the list was expanded to 70 franchises, there still wouldn't have been any NHL teams ranked.
The Celtics came in at No. 22 (tied with the NFL's Houston Texans) with a value of $2.8 billion. The Chicago Bulls (No. 19), Golden State Warriors (No. 9), Los Angeles Lakers (No. 8) and New York Knicks (No. 5) are the only NBA teams ahead of the Celtics.
The Red Sox are slotted at No. 12 (tied with the NFL's Los Angeles Rams) with a value of $3.2 billion. The Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 10) and New York Yankees (No. 2) are the MLB franchises ahead of the Red Sox.
The Patriots, at No. 7, are the highest-ranked Boston team on the list with a value of $3.8 billion. The Dallas Cowboys (No. 1) are the only NFL team ranked ahead of the Pats. The Patriots have won six Super Bowl titles since 2000, which easily is the most over that span and tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most such championships in NFL history. New England has made 10 Super Bowl appearance since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994, so it's safe to say Kraft has enjoyed a nice return on his $175 million investment to purchase the team.
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