Real Madrid tops Forbes' rich list

Spanish football club Real Madrid retained their title as the world's most valuable sports franchise, according to a poll released by Forbes. Football clubs held the top three positions with the European champions valued at NZ$3.95 billion), topping the list for the second consecutive year. They were followed by La Liga rivals Barcelona at NZ$3.67 billion and Premier League club Manchester United at number three at NZ$3.22 billion, Forbes said in a statement. Major League Baseball's New York Yankees occupy the number four spot valued at $2.87 billion while the NFL's Dallas Cowboys are worth NZ$2.64 billion. Rounding out the top 10 were MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers (NZ $2.29 billion), football's Bayern Munich (NZ$2.13 billion), NFL's New England Patriots (NZ$2.05 billion), NFL's Washington Redskins (NZ$1.95 billion) and NFL's New York Giants (NZ$1.78 billion). With 30 teams in the top 50, for the second consecutive year, the NFL occupies 60 percent of this year's list.