Forbes says Minnesota Vikings team value rose to $2.2 billion in 2016

Forbes released a list of the top 50 most valuable sports franchises and the Minnesota Vikings showed a big increase in value during 2016.

When people think of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, several teams come to mind. International teams such as Manchester United or hugely successful franchises like the New England Patriots come to mind, but the Minnesota Vikings have snuck their way to be among them.

According to a recent list of the 50 most valuable sports franchises in 2016 by Forbes, the Vikings landed at #30 overall, behind some of the biggest and most popular sports teams with massive fan bases.

The information on the team included an increase in value of 38% from the previous year, bringing the value of the franchise as a whole up to a whopping $2.2 billion. And there are plenty of great reasons for the value of the team to make such a significant jump.

Primarily, it is the opening of U.S. Bank Stadium as the home of the Vikings which caused the largest increase. Not only is the facility itself expensive and impressive, but it provides a significant improvement in seating, increasing revenue per game.

In addition, the Vikings were coming off a successful 2015 season in which saw them win the NFC North, establish Mike Zimmer as an excellent coach, and young talent was developing on both sides of the football.

Here are the teams with a higher value in 2016 according to Forbes:

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• Dallas Cowboys
• New England Patriots
• New York Giants
• San Francisco 49ers
• Washington Redskins
• Los Angeles Rams
• New York Jets
• Chicago Bears
• Houston Texans
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Denver Broncos
• Miami Dolphins
• Green Bay Packers
• Baltimore Ravens
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Seattle Seahawks

Next: Vikings 2017 schedule breakdown

The fact that 17 teams from the National Football League land in the top 30 most valuable sports franchises shows the power that professional football has over the world of sports and seeing the Vikings value climbing means nothing but good things for Minnesota.