Team valuations

What MLS clubs are worth: 16 published lists from Forbes and Sportico, from Forbes's first in 2008, and the values that expansion fees and club sales have put on clubs since 1996. The lists measure different things. Forbes values the team alone, leaving out stadiums and real estate; Sportico includes the team's real estate and related businesses, so it runs higher for clubs that own their grounds. Neither is a sale price; the fees and sales are.

Click or tap a mark to see what it is.

MLS club values by year: published averages, every club on each list, expansion fees and sales, on a logarithmic scale: each gridline step is a doubling or more. A line joins only consecutive years, so a year with no list is a gap.

Expansion fees and sales

year	club	kind	what	club valued at
1997	Chicago Fire	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 1998	$5,000,000
1997	Miami Fusion	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 1998	$20,000,000
2004	Chivas USA	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2005	$7,500,000
2004	Real Salt Lake	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2005	$7,500,000
2005	Toronto FC	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2007	$10,000,000
2006	New York Red Bulls	sale	the whole club sold	$100,000,000
2006	Sporting Kansas City	sale	the whole club sold	$20,000,000
2007	Chicago Fire	sale	the whole club sold	$35,000,000
2007	D.C. United	sale	the whole club sold	$33,000,000
2007	San Jose Earthquakes	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2008	$20,000,000
2007	Seattle Sounders	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2009	$30,000,000
2008	Houston Dynamo	sale	50% sold	$45,000,000
2008	Philadelphia Union	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2010	$30,000,000
2009	Portland Timbers	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2011	$35,000,000
2009	Vancouver Whitecaps	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2011	$35,000,000
2010	CF Montréal	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2012	$40,000,000
2012	D.C. United	sale	majority sold	$50,000,000
2013	Columbus Crew	sale	the whole club sold	$68,000,000
2013	New York City FC	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2015	$100,000,000
2013	Orlando City SC	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2015	$70,000,000
2014	Atlanta United	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2017	$70,000,000
2014	Chivas USA	sale	the whole club sold	$70,000,000
2014	Los Angeles FC	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2018	$110,000,000
2015	Minnesota United FC	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2017	$100,000,000
2017	Nashville SC	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2020	$150,000,000
2018	Columbus Crew	sale	the whole club sold	$150,000,000
2018	FC Cincinnati	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2019	$150,000,000
2018	Inter Miami	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2020	$25,000,000
2019	Charlotte FC	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2022	$325,000,000
2019	Chicago Fire	sale	51% sold for $204,000,000	$400,000,000
2019	Saint Louis City SC	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2023	$200,000,000
2021	Houston Dynamo	sale	controlling sold	$400,000,000
2021	Inter Miami	sale	about 48% sold	$600,000,000
2021	Orlando City SC	sale	100% sold	$400,000,000
2022	Real Salt Lake	sale	the whole club sold	$400,000,000
2023	San Diego FC	expansion fee	expansion fee, first season 2025	$500,000,000
2025	Columbus Crew	sale	10% sold	$900,000,000
2025	Real Salt Lake	sale	majority sold	$600,000,000
2026	Los Angeles FC	sale	minority sold	$1,250,000,000
2026	Sporting Kansas City	sale	majority, to about 80% sold	$700,000,000

An expansion fee is what the club cost to join, by the year it was awarded. A sale is on the chart when it stated what it valued the whole club at, or sold the whole club; a partial stake with no stated valuation is left off rather than scaled up. Some sales included a stadium or a sister club; the ownership page has the details and sources.

Forbes

team	2008	2013	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2023	2024	2025	2026
Inter Miami	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	$600M	$1,030M	$1,200M	$1,350M
Los Angeles FC	—	—	—	—	—	$305M	$475M	$1,000M	$1,200M	$1,250M	$1,320M
LA Galaxy	$100M	$170M	$240M	$265M	$315M	$320M	$480M	$925M	$950M	$1,000M	$1,080M
New York City FC	—	—	—	$255M	$275M	$278M	$385M	$800M	$850M	$875M	$1,020M
Atlanta United	—	—	—	—	—	$330M	$500M	$850M	$900M	$975M	$1,000M
Seattle Sounders	—	$175M	$245M	$285M	$295M	$310M	$405M	$660M	$785M	$800M	$860M
Austin FC	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	$680M	$750M	$825M	$855M
Columbus Crew	$23M	$73M	$112M	$123M	$130M	$160M	$200M	$550M	$640M	$735M	$805M
FC Cincinnati	—	—	—	—	—	—	$285M	$560M	$650M	$730M	$800M
San Diego FC	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	$795M
D.C. United	$35M	$71M	$140M	$155M	$230M	$265M	$330M	$700M	$775M	$785M	$785M
Charlotte FC	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	$625M	$690M	$700M	$740M
Toronto FC	$44M	$121M	$175M	$245M	$280M	$290M	$395M	$690M	$725M	$725M	$725M
Philadelphia Union	—	$90M	$145M	$152M	$170M	$175M	$240M	$575M	$670M	$690M	$715M
Saint Louis City SC	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	$680M	$685M	$710M
Portland Timbers	—	$141M	$185M	$210M	$268M	$280M	$390M	$650M	$660M	$670M	$705M
Sporting Kansas City	$22M	$108M	$165M	$195M	$260M	$270M	$325M	$590M	$630M	$650M	$700M
Minnesota United FC	—	—	—	—	—	$248M	$300M	$540M	$600M	$610M	$625M
Nashville SC	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	$500M	$570M	$570M	$620M
New York Red Bulls	$36M	$114M	$144M	$178M	$245M	$250M	$290M	$525M	$560M	$580M	$610M
Chicago Fire	$41M	$102M	$160M	$177M	$240M	$245M	$335M	$425M	$515M	$530M	$575M
FC Dallas	$39M	$97M	$148M	$150M	$185M	$190M	$220M	$400M	$500M	$545M	$570M
Houston Dynamo	$33M	$125M	$200M	$215M	$218M	$220M	$280M	$435M	$530M	$550M	$565M
San Jose Earthquakes	—	$75M	$146M	$180M	$235M	$235M	$275M	$450M	$505M	$540M	$550M
New England Revolution	$27M	$89M	$158M	$185M	$225M	$225M	$245M	$475M	$520M	$535M	$540M
Real Salt Lake	$30M	$85M	$108M	$125M	$155M	$170M	$235M	$440M	$485M	$500M	$510M
Orlando City SC	—	—	—	$240M	$272M	$275M	$295M	$420M	$475M	$475M	$475M
Colorado Rapids	$31M	$76M	$105M	$110M	$135M	$155M	$190M	$350M	$400M	$415M	$450M
Vancouver Whitecaps	—	$86M	$125M	$128M	$150M	$165M	$215M	$410M	$420M	$440M	$445M
CF Montréal	—	$96M	$128M	$135M	$175M	$168M	$210M	$375M	$430M	$435M	$440M
Chivas USA	$24M	$64M	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
average	$37M	$103M	$157M	$185M	$223M	$240M	$312M	$579M	$658M	$690M	$731M

Sportico

team	2021	2022	2024	2025	2026
Inter Miami	$525M	$585M	$1,020M	$1,190M	$1,450M
Los Angeles FC	$860M	$900M	$1,150M	$1,280M	$1,400M
LA Galaxy	$835M	$865M	$1,000M	$1,110M	$1,170M
Atlanta United	$845M	$855M	$1,050M	$1,080M	$1,140M
New York City FC	$655M	$690M	$840M	$1,000M	$1,120M
Seattle Sounders	$705M	$725M	$795M	$825M	$915M
Austin FC	$575M	$630M	$800M	$865M	$910M
Columbus Crew	$540M	$560M	$650M	$730M	$800M
FC Cincinnati	$500M	$550M	$645M	$725M	$790M
San Diego FC	—	—	—	—	$765M
Charlotte FC	—	$570M	$655M	$705M	$755M
D.C. United	$630M	$700M	$720M	$720M	$750M
Portland Timbers	$635M	$685M	$715M	$720M	$745M
Philadelphia Union	$530M	$555M	$685M	$700M	$740M
Toronto FC	$650M	$705M	$725M	$725M	$730M
Chicago Fire	$535M	$535M	$540M	$575M	$690M
Sporting Kansas City	$550M	$575M	$630M	$650M	$685M
Saint Louis City SC	—	—	$625M	$655M	$675M
Nashville SC	$460M	$520M	$635M	$640M	$670M
New York Red Bulls	$505M	$525M	$615M	$645M	$660M
Minnesota United FC	$520M	$565M	$640M	$655M	$655M
Houston Dynamo	$425M	$475M	$550M	$580M	$600M
San Jose Earthquakes	$510M	$515M	$560M	$600M	$585M
Real Salt Lake	$420M	$430M	$510M	$525M	$580M
Orlando City SC	$400M	$420M	$505M	$535M	$565M
New England Revolution	$480M	$495M	$500M	$530M	$560M
FC Dallas	$415M	$470M	$520M	$540M	$555M
Colorado Rapids	$370M	$400M	$460M	$475M	$480M
Vancouver Whitecaps	$385M	$415M	$470M	$470M	$450M
CF Montréal	$380M	$390M	$440M	$450M	$430M
average	$550M	$582M	$678M	$721M	$767M

Values in millions of dollars; hover a figure for the team's rank on that list. A club is missing from a list until it has played a full season. Forbes published no MLS list in 2009–2012, 2014 or 2020–2022, and Sportico none in 2023. The sources for each list are on each club's page.