London, Jul 15: They have long ruled almost every sports aficionado's heart and it was just a matter of time before they emerged as the leading sports brand in the economic sphere too. Manchester United, the English Premier League side, according to the Forbes magazine is the most valuable sports team in the world.

United, who have won the English Premier League title more times than any other side are valued at a staggering $ 1.86 billion and pipped the likes of NFL team Dallas Cowboys and the New York Yankees.

But the US' National Football league (NFL) was the highest contributor to the magazine's annual list of the most valued sports teams with all the 32 of its sides making the cut. Surprisingly there were just eight football clubs around the world who made it to the list.

Red Devils as Manchester United team is referred to in the football circuit, have a major chunk of its earning coming out of the advertising revenue. The club has an 80 million pounds, four-year contract with shirt sponsor Aon and a 302.9 million pounds, 13-year deal with sports apparel firm Nike.

It also gains a significant chunk of its revenue from the huge fan-base it has around the world. As per an estimate there are 333,000,000 supporters of the club around the world.

Among the other football clubs in the list, La Liga side Real Madrid are fifth in the list followed by Arsenal and Chelsea in the seventh and 46th place respectively.

OneIndia News