Top 10 Richest Sports League in the World 2024 [Updated]

Richest Sports League in the World: Sports has been a medium to connect people throughout the years. Over the years, we have seen various developments in different sports. Now, sports become a million-dollar industry every sport has significant importance in different countries. With the growth of technology, commercialization, and professionalization, sports have become a business and the players get a huge amount get a huge amount for playing for their country and the club or franchise.

Currently, there are more than 100 professional sports leagues. Each league generates a huge revenue and also contributes to the economy and also helps the players to get financially stable. In this article, we will have a look at the top 10 richest sports leagues in the world. 

Top 10 Biggest Sports League in the World

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1. National Football League (NFL)

The NFL (National Football League) is the highest professional level of American Football and one of the most-watched sporting event in the world. Some of the famous teams from the league are Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, and Los Angeles Chargers. NFL was formed in 1920 and is known for its intense competition among 32 teams participating. 

Most of the revenue in NFL comes from broadcasting rights, sponsorship and ticket sales. ESPN, Fox, NBC and some of the telecom companies that have acquired the broadcasters for the league throughout the years. While, the NFL has also partnered with several MNCs as PepsiCo, Nike, and Visa. The league generated a revenue of  $18 billion in the 2022 season. 

2. Indian Premier League (IPL)

The biggest cricket league in the world, Indian Premier League (IPL) comes in the second spot in the list of the richest sports leagues in the world generating a revenue of $9.5 billion. Mumbai Indians is the most valuable franchise with a brand worth $1.3 billion. With its inauguration in 2008, IPL went on to become a huge success and has enthralled cricket fans around the world. It went on to become India’s first unicorn in its inception in 2008 with a $1.1 billion valuation. The Indian T20 League has gained immense popularity in the last 16 years and is giving competition to some of the biggest sports leagues in the world in terms of popularity. IPL has done partnerships with some big companies like VIVO, Pepsi Dream 11 Tata and Disney plus Hotstar and Viacom 18 are the current broadcasters of the league. 

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3. Major League Baseball (MLB)

Again the American league made it into the top 10 list of the richest sports leagues in the world. Major League Baseball is a USA-based Baseball league and is also considered the oldest major professional sports league in the world. With its inception in 1992, the Major Baseball League has 30 teams that play 162 games every year, with playoffs and the World Series catching the attention of millions of fans across the world. Most of its revenue comes from broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and ticket sales, and also has long-standing deals with television networks that help generate a billion-dollar revenue every year. Apart from this MLB has also partnerships with several MNCs Chevrolet, Mastercard, Nike, etc. 

4. National Basketball Association (NBA)

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional Basketball league based in North America and comes fourth in the list of richest sports leagues in the world. NBA has immense popularity around the world and generated a revenue of $10 billion in 2022, which is nearly tripled in the last decade from $3.7 billion in 2012. The league has secured national television broadcasting contracts worth $500 million in international media revenue. However, the maximum revenue is generated through jersey deal with Nike and their jersey patch program with individual teams, which itself fetched more than $200 million in 2022 alone.

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5. English Premier League 

Coming fifth in the list of richest sports leagues, the Premier League is regarded as the biggest sports league in the world. A total of 20 clubs are a part of the league generating a revenue of a whopping $30.3 billion. The revenue of the Premier League his seen immense growth except during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020/21. The main reason of the popularity of the league is the successful acquisition of high-profile players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku by Manchester United. The league has generated huge revenue through television broadcasting licenses, business operations, and sponsorship deals that have leveraged the league’s revenue. 

6. National Hockey League (NHL)

The National Hockey League (NHL) is one of the most popular ice hockey leagues based in North America and is the sixth-richest sports league in the world. The league has an estimated value of $5.5 billion, with the New York Rangers being the most valuable team with a valuation of $2.2 billion. 

A total of 32 teams take part in the ice Hockey league with 82 matches in each season followed by the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Finals. The league generates most of its revenue through broadcasting rights, sponsorships, ticket sales, and lucrative deals with television networks. NHL: has also partnerships with MNCs like Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Discover, etc. 

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7. La Liga Santander

La Liga Santander is a popular football league based in Spain and has an estimated value of €4.5 billion. The richest football club in the world in 2024, Real Madrid is also part of this league with a net worth of $5.1 billion. A total of 20 teams take part in the league which has 38 games every season and attracts millions of users annually. Some of the top clubs of this league are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Villarreal, etc., 

La Liga generates most of its revenue through broadcasting rights, sponsorships and ticket sales. It also has lucrative deals with television networks and has partnered with some big MNCs like Santander, Nike, and Coca-Cola. The league generates a revenue of  $930.95 million through sponsorships alone. 

8. Bundesliga

German Football League Bundesliga is the eighth-richest football league in the world generating around €4.3 billion. The league draws large crowd in the stadium with an average of 42,738 tickets sold per game. Broadcasting, sponsorships, and ticket sales are a major source of revenue for the Bundesliga and the league also has lucrative deals with television networks, generating €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) yearly from the National television rights. The league has also several partnerships with Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Puma.

9. Serie A

Serie A is a top-tier football league in Italy generating a revenue of €2.8 billion. AC Milan is the franchise with the highest market value of €571.4 million. A total of 20 teams take part in Serie A with 38 matches in every season. The league currently has domestic deals ports streaming service DAZN for €2.5 billion (US$2.7 billion) till 2024 along with Pay-TV broadcaster Sky Italia with a deal of €262.5 million (US$280.9 million) over three years. 

10. UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League is a European football league that features the top football clubs among different European leagues like the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and the Bundesliga. It generates a revenue of around €3.5 billion with Manchester City having the highest squad value worth €1.01 billion. UEFA’s revenue dropped by €2 billion in the 2021/22 season after setting a record mark in the previous year.

So these were the 10 richest sporting leagues across the world which are mostly dominated by the game of football. Each league has a significant importance and is popular in different parts of the world.