<
>

Real Madrid top Forbes' most valuable list third year running

Real Madrid have topped Forbes' list of the world's most valuable sports teams for a third straight year.

The Spanish giants head the world rankings with a value of $3.26 billion (£2.08bn), ahead of the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees -- both valued at $3.20bn (£2.04bn).

Manchester United drop from third in 2014 to fifth but remain England's most valuable club at $3.10bn (£1.98bn), clear of Premier League rivals Manchester City ($1.39bn or £890m), who are 29th overall, Chelsea ($1.37billion or £877m), who sit 31st, and 36th-placed Arsenal ($1.31bn or £839m).

Fourth-placed Barcelona ($3.16bn or £2.02bn) complete the top five while American sports dominate the rest of the top 10.

The NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, the New England Patriots and Washington Redskins of the NFL, and baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers all make the top 10.

Formula One team Ferrari ($1.35bn or £865m) rank 32nd -- Europe's only non-football representative.

American business magazine Forbes has been valuing teams in the major sports leagues since 1998 and the average current value of a team on the list is $1.75bn (£1.12bn) -- the highest ever, and a 31 percent increase from last year.