Sports, such as cricket and football, have continued to entertain generations. Over time, the sport has grown into an industry worth billions of dollars per year. The worldwide sports market has increased dramatically, from $486.61 billion in 2021 to $512.14 billion in 2023. And by 2026, the figure is predicted to exceed $700 billion.

Sports leagues are a big part of the worldwide market, with entertainment glitter, attracting a large number of fans. They are at the forefront of innovation and adaptation.

Related: IPL 2025 Fantasy Sports Like Dream11, My11Circle Aiming High to Increase Run Rate

The National Football League, or NFL, founded in 1920, is the most valuable and expensive sports league, with a total revenue of $18 billion in 2024, with the Dallas Cowboys having the greatest worth at $10.32 billion.  Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers was scheduled to receive $59.465 million in 2023, but he reworked his deal and will instead earn $75 million over two years.

The NFL’s 32 franchises receive the lion’s share of money, and the league also has 29 of the world’s 50 most expensive stadiums.  The NFL is renowned for its fierce competition and high-stakes games.  It is the pinnacle of professional American football, and one of the most viewed athletic events in the world.

The majority of its revenue comes from broadcasting rights, sponsorship, and ticket sales, as well as the league’s long-term contracts with telecom companies such as ESPN, Fox, NBC, and others, which total billions of dollars annually.  The NFL has also collaborated with various multinational corporations, like PepsiCo, Nike, and Visa, to name a few.  During the 2020 COVID-affected season, the league faced pandemic-related financial problems, prompting the NFL to reduce the pay cap.  But, after two successful seasons, the NFL is back on course to earn $25 billion in revenue by 2027.

The Indian Premier League, or IPL, is the second richest sports league, trailing only the NFL, having reached $9 billion. The Mumbai Indians (MI) are the most valued IPL club, with a brand worth $86.4 million. The IPL is also second in terms of huge fat cheques, with players earning an average of $5.3 million per year.

The Indian T20 league, founded in 2008 as India’s first unicorn with a $1.1 billion valuation, has grown 16-fold since its establishment. For the past 15 seasons, the second-most lucrative league in the world has been played with ten clubs in a 70-match campaign followed by playoffs and the IPL Trophy. It now competes with the NFL, NBA, EPL, and others.

With unmanageable success, the IPL has generated enormous media and sponsorship deals, establishing itself as a prominent sporting event with global coverage and popularity.  The IPL has collaborations with a number of big organizations, including VIVO, Paytm, TATA, and Dream11.  And this year, at $6.2 billion for the 2023-2027 cycle, IPL saw a threefold increase in media sales, breaking Walt Disney Star’s 5-year cycle monotony that had persisted since 2017.  With this broadcast rights agreement, the IPL became the second largest athletic event after the NFL in terms of per-match attendance.

The third richest league by revenue is America’s Major League Baseball, or MLB, with $11.5 billion in revenue in 2024, with the Los Angeles Dodgers getting the most salary of $5 million and ranking among the top five richest leagues in the world.

With an average player salary of $4.9 million, the wage cap increased by 11.1%, reaching its highest level since 2001.  Aaron Judge became the highest-paid position player in MLB history after signing a $360 million, nine-year contract with the New York Yankees.  The baseball league began in 1992 and now consists of 30 teams that play 162 games per year, followed by playoffs and the World Series, which attract millions of people.

After being negatively impacted by the pandemic, America’s baseball league recovered and hit a home run in 2022, leading it to record a revenue increase.  The MLB earns the majority of its money from broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and ticket sales, and it has a long-standing agreement with television networks that brings in billions of dollars each year.  The league has collaborations with a number of prominent corporations, including Chevrolet, Mastercard, and Nike.

With a revenue of little more over $10 billion in 2024, the NBA, or National Basketball Association, is fourth among the world’s top five richest sports leagues.  The NBA is the world’s most prestigious and wealthiest basketball league, with the average club valuing around $3 billion and the Golden State Warriors being the most valuable at $7.56 billion.

After being badly affected by the pandemic for two years in a row and earning $6.4 billion in revenue for the COVID-impacted 2020/21 season, the NBA increased its revenue to $10 billion last year.  This suggests that the NBA’s annual revenue has nearly quadrupled over the last decade, rising from $3.7 billion in 2012 to $10 billion in 2022.

In addition to including the world’s wealthiest athletes, the league has acquired national television broadcasting contracts worth $500 million in international media revenue.  But the main driver of this surge is the NBA’s jersey partnership with Nike and their jersey patch program with individual teams, which reportedly generated more than $200 million in income last year alone.

The English Premier League is the fifth richest and largest sports league, with an estimated annual revenue of approximately £6 billion in 2024.  The average Premier League team is valued $1.51 billion, bringing the total value of the league’s 20 clubs to $30.3 billion.

Excluding the COVID-impacted 2020/21 season, EPL teams’ revenue generating has improved dramatically, owing primarily to Manchester United’s successful acquisition of high-profile players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku.  Television broadcasting licenses, commercial operations, and sponsorship deals have all increased EPL revenue, and this growth in media attention, global fan participation, and lucrative sponsorship deals has improved EPL teams’ financial prospects.

For the first time in 30 years, the EPL saw more money from international broadcasters than domestic stations.  With £5.1 billion raised for domestic rights during the epidemic, the league reached arrangements to extend existing partnerships with Sky, BT Sport, and Amazon Prime Video until 2025.

The National Hockey League, or NHL, is North America’s sixth richest sports league and one of the most popular ice hockey leagues, with an estimated value of $5.5 billion, with the New York Rangers being the most valuable franchise, at $2.2 billion.

The ice hockey league consists of 32 teams that play an 82-game season each year, followed by playoffs and the Stanley Cup Finals. The NHL earns the majority of its money from broadcasting rights, sponsorships, ticket sales, and lucrative deals with television networks that bring in billions of dollars each season. With the new ESPN TV contract and the arrival of the Seattle Kraken, the NHL is expected to surpass $5 billion. It has also partnered with multinational corporations such as Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Discover, to mention a few.

La Liga Santander in Spain is one of the world’s most popular football leagues, predicted to be worth €4.5 billion in 2024. It houses Real Madrid, the world’s wealthiest football club in 2024, with a net worth of $6.6 billion.

The La Liga Santander is home to 20 teams that play 38 games per year, attracting millions of viewers.  The football league, which includes some of Europe’s greatest clubs including as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, and Villarreal, generates the most of its money from television rights, sponsorships, and ticket sales.

The league has worked with various large brands, including Santander, Nike, and Coca-Cola, in addition to lucrative arrangements with television networks.  The estimated sponsorship revenue for La Liga clubs is $930.95 million.

Germany’s Bundesliga, which has 18 teams and plays 34 games per year, earns approximately €4.3 billion, making it the eighth richest sports league on the list and one of the top sports leagues in the world, with FC Bayern Munich worth over €3.8 billion in 2023.  The German football league, which draws enormous audiences to its stadiums (an average of 42,738 tickets sold per game), has recorded a 5.4% increase in total revenue for the country’s professional teams.

The league generates the majority of its revenue from broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and ticket sales, and it has a lucrative arrangement with television networks.  Bundesliga has worked with numerous big companies, including Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Puma, to earn €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) in annual revenue from national television rights.

Italy’s top-tier football league, Serie A, is the ninth wealthiest sports league, with a revenue of €2.8 billion and the lowest on the list. AC Milan, with its rich and legendary past, has the highest market value in Serie A at €1 billion in 2023.

Serie A, which has 20 clubs and plays 38 games, is noted for its methodical play style rather than high-speed thrills. The Italian football league is preparing to strengthen revenue streams. It now holds a domestic arrangement with sports streaming service DAZN for €2.5 billion (US$2.7 billion) that will last until 2024, along with Pay-TV network Sky Italia.  Serie A has reported a three-year deal of €262.5 million (US$280.9 million).

The UEFA Champions League is the tenth richest sports league, with an anticipated revenue of €3.5 billion, and Manchester City’s squad is the most valuable, valued €4.1 billion by 2024.

The UEFA Champions League, which includes the top club clubs from Europe’s Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and Bundesliga, is the world’s ninth largest sports league.  UEFA’s earnings for the 2021-22 season dropped by about €2 billion after setting a record the previous year, aided in large part by the postponed European Championship.

Despite the decline, UEFA had its second-best financial year since 2016-17, with the majority of the media revenue coming from UEFA’s four-year partnership with global streaming provider DAZN, which will expire in June 2021.  The increase in data comes when UEFA implemented a new competition format for the UWCL, which comprised a group stage and a centralized commercial and broadcast rights model for the 2021-22 to 2024-25 cycles.