Top 10 Richest Sports Leagues in the World – 2025 | Currently Ranked

Sports is one of the major entertainment avenues for the audience, and ever since the emergence of television, it has escalated to almost every household across the planet. The sports leagues, too, depend on their viewers to elevate their presence on a worldwide level and add more revenue to their kitty. How many sports leagues are there in this world?

It may take a week’s research to cultivate this information, as for sure, there are thousands! But, out of them, there are a few competitions which are famous worldwide and are followed by a huge section of audience almost in every country, thus bringing in unity among the world.

Ranking factors considered

• Valuation of the league: This will be a primary criterion for assessing the wealth of a league.
• Broadcasting rights price: How many people, regions, countries, and cities is a league exposing itself to? The larger the number, the greater the revenue associated with broadcasting.

Top 10 Richest Sports Leagues in the World

An example can be that of English top-tier football, which has immense popularity not only in UK but also in Asia, as many teams often switch on their tour mode at the beginning or end of the season, in an attempt to further grow their fan base in those countries. In this article, we will look at the richest sports leagues in the world and what makes them the richest.

Which is the Richest Sports League in the World?

A league can only be called rich if it gains from the respective sponsorships, gate receipts, or even broadcasting revenue. The broadcast not only helps in enhancing the popularity of the league but also adds numbers to the kitty, thus motivating the stakeholders to navigate further. Regarding gate receipts, all the leagues mentioned in this article play host to a jam-packed audience, and often their noise resonates on the television sets. We have created a table below to make your journey through this article easier. The salary has been kept discreet for professional reasons.

10. UEFA Champions League | Europe

The UEFA Champions League is the biggest continental football league in the world, and has viewers across the globe supporting their favourite clubs. The very presence of the word ‘Champions’ makes this league shine, as the best clubs across Europe indulge in a feisty affair throughout the entire season. In the 2022-23 season, the competition, which has big sponsors like Heineken, Adidas, MasterCard, and others, generated a revenue of €3.2 billion.

9. Serie A | Italy

The Italian top-tier football competition, which once remained witness to the prowess of global superstars, brought in a revenue of €2.9 billion in 2022-23. A sum of €410.7 million was generated via ticketing, while broadcasting and sponsorships amassed €1.47 billion and €769.4 million, respectively.

8. Bundesliga | Germany

Bundesliga, ever since its commencement in 1962, has been a major source of recreation for German football fans. While it has giant teams like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, or even new heavyweights Bayer Leverkusen, the commercial aspect of the league is seeing an upward trajectory. However, not only the top-tier but also Bundesliga 2 is benefiting in recent times. The 2023-24 season recorded a revenue of €5.87 billion across the two leagues, a 12% higher amount than the previous campaign. Moreover, it was the first time that the second-tier competition surpassed the €1 billion revenue mark. Taxes and levies, duties worth €1.66 billion, were also paid!

7. La Liga | Spain

The Spanish top-tier is one of the most followed leagues in the world and has superstars like Kylian Mbappe, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Vinicius Jr featuring in it. While Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid remain the top sides, the other teams are growing, and so are the league’s commercial gains. The 2023-24 edition recorded €5.049 billion, which is 3.2% more than the previous season. This was the second successive season where La Liga generated more than €1 billion in commercial gains from sponsorship, licensing, and other areas. The broadcasting revenue was said to be €1.5 billion, a huge number to make it one of the richest leagues.

6. National Hockey League | United States

The famous Ice Hockey league, the NHL, has seen a renaissance in recent times. The league has numerous business partners like Honda, Hyundai, Apple Inc., ESPN, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson Inc., and Pepsico, among other reputed companies. Speaking of the 2024 edition, an average NHL team is worth $1.92 billion. The 2023-24 campaign produced a revenue of $6.3 billion, which was 8.6% more than the previous edition. Moreover, the national sponsorship revenue amounted to $250 million, a record in itself, along with ticket sales worth $2.4 billion.

5. English Premier League | England

The Premier League, rebranded in 1992, is one of the widely watched football leagues on the globe. Not only in UK, but the league has gained immense popularity in the last few years in Asia too. In 2022-23, it recorded an annual revenue of £7 billion, with its teams accumulating $30.3 billion from their large following. Be it ticket sales or even merchandise sales for big clubs, the revenue makes it one of the richest leagues not only in Europe but also in the world. Broadcasters like Sky and BT Sport held the rights, helping to distribute the game throughout the globe.

4. National Basketball Association | United States

The NBA was launched in 1946 and over the years has established itself as one of the richest sports leagues. In the 2023-24 season, the 30 franchises in the competition amassed a total revenue of $11.34 billion, registering an increase of over $700 million from the previous term. While gate receipts are one source of revenue, sponsorships have played a huge part since the 2017-18 edition, as since that season the sponsorship revenue has always exceeded $1 billion. The league’s official outfitter is Nike, one of the biggest brands in the world. Apart from that, the gate receipts, notably, recorded 21.57% of the overall revenue in 2023-24.

3. Major League Baseball | United States

Major League Baseball, or MLB, is a widely celebrated sport in North America. It has a strong viewership, which adds a significant amount to the overall revenue. Notably, only the annual value of the TV deals resulted in $1.84 billion in 2024, which is a small amount in the overall recorded revenue of $12.2 billion. Apart from broadcast, the other sources of revenue are merchandise, sponsorship, and ticket sales. The New York Yankees, a notable team in the competition, has an estimated worth of $8.2 billion and was the fourth most valued sports team in the world last year.

2. Indian Premier League | India

The Indian Premier League, or the IPL, is the biggest cricket league in the world. The 2025 edition recently ended with Royal Challengers Bengaluru lifting their maiden title. This year saw the league earning $1.21 billion from broadcasting, which means Rs. 130.7 crore every game. The television rights were owned by Star Sports, and the digital rights belonged to Viacom18. Other than that, it has a title sponsorship fee of Rs. 500 crores every season from its main sponsor, the TATA Group, alongside other sponsorships such as CEAT, Aramco, Wonder Cement, etc. Merchandise, too, adds to the overall revenue of the IPL, thus helping in making it one of the richest leagues in the world.

1. National Football League | United States

Established as early as 1920, the National Football League, or NFL, is one of the oldest competitions in the world. Associated with American Football, this league has generated the most revenue. In 2024, it generated €19 billion and gave space to top sponsors in the world like Bud Light, Microsoft, FedEx, Captain Morgan, Toyota, and others. Most importantly, the league has long-term contracts with top broadcasters like NBC, ESPN, and Fox, which helps in adding to the overall revenue.