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Where do the San Diego Chargers rank among the top 50 most valuable sports franchises?

As an NFL team, it was a near given that the San Diego Chargers would make the top 50, but given the stadium situation and the tiny TV market they occupy, their place on that list can't be that high. Or can it?

By Richard Wade
Doug Pensinger

As they do every year, Forbes has ranked the top 50 most valuable sports franchises. All but two NFL teams were represented on the list with only the St. Louis Rams and the Jacksonville Jaguars not making the cut. Our very own San Diego Chargers made the list at #38, and they weighed in at just under a billion dollars. Forbes broke the team down as follows:

Value: $936 million
Owner: Spanos family

The Chargers have have [sic] been trying to get a new stadium for more than 10 years and have an annual exit clause from its lease at Qualcomm Stadium. The team is considered a prime candidate to move to Los Angeles. The Chargers have struggled with attendance with ten home games blacked out over the past three seasons due to the lack of sellouts.

Much like the Oakland Raiders, the Chargers' value is suppressed by its home stadium. Unlike the Raiders, the Chargers still cracked the top 40, and they are the 24th most valuable NFL team according to Forbes' numbers Also, apparently people still think that Los Angeles is a likely future home to an NFL team, and the Chargers are among the most likely to end up there. . Because I'm sure we all care, the other teams that are worth less than the Chargers are the Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills.

Fellow AFC West teams, the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs, came in at #22 (13th in the NFL) and #30 (20th). These results seem mostly in line with what expectations would have been. Although I'm actually a little surprised that the Raiders are so low on the list.

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