The 10 Biggest Sports Brands Globally
of the 10 Biggest Sports Brands in the World for you to analyse. Check it out below –
1. Nike
Brand Value – $29.6 Billion
Nike is the world’s largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment and the biggest sports brand in the world. It was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. As of 2012, it has employed more than 44,000 people worldwide. In 2014 the brand alone was valued at $19 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. As of 2017, the Nike brand is valued at $29.6 billion.
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2. ESPN
Brand Value – $15.8 Billion
ESPN is a U.S.-based global cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint ventureowned by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen along with his brother Scott and Ed Egan. ESPN launched on September 7, 1979, beginning with the first telecast of what would become the channel’s flagship program, Sports Center. Today ESPN is available to over 100 million paid television households and making it one of the biggest brands in sports entertainment.
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3. Adidas
Brand Value – $7.9 Billion
Adidas is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the world, after Nike. The company was started by Adolf Dassler in his mother’s house; he was joined by his elder brother Rudolf in 1924 under the name Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. In 1949, following a breakdown in the relationship between the brothers, Dassler created Adidas, and Rudolf established Puma, which became Adidas’ business rival.
4. Sky Sports
Brand Value – $5.5 Billion
Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland and of the biggest sports brands in the entire world. It has played a major role in the increased commercialisation of British sport since 1991. To this very day, Sky Sports is the dominant brand in UK and Ireland, and in August 2017, Sky paid over £1.8 Billion extra to try beat off their rivals Google and Netflix to ensure they had exclusive rights with BT Sport to show the Premier League football.
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5. Under Armour
Brand Value – $4.4 Billion
Under Armour, Inc. is an American company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a then 23-year-old former special teams captain of the University of Maryland football team. Plank initially began the business from his grandmother’s basement in Washington, D.C. Under Armour received its first big break in 1999 when Warner Brothers contacted Under Armour to outfit two of its feature films. Under Armour is widely known for its partnership with NBA athlete Stephen Curry, who is considered to be the “face of their footwear line”.
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6. MLB Advanced Media
Brand Value – $2.4 Billion
MLBAM is a limited partnership of the club owners of Major League Baseball based in New York City and is the Internet and interactive branch of the league. The company operates the official web site for the league and the thirty Major League Baseball club web sites via MLB.com, which draws four million hits per day. The site offers news, standings, statistics, and schedules, and subscribers have access to live audio and video broadcasts of most games. The company has claimed the title of the “biggest media company you have never heard of”.
7. UFC
Brand Value – $2.0 Billion
Based in the United States, the UFC produces events worldwide that showcase eleven weight divisions and abide by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. The first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. In 2016, UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, was sold to William Morris Endeavor for $4.2 billion.
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8. YES
Brand Value – $1.4 Billion
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American cable and satellite television regional sports network that is owned by 21st Century Fox. Primarily serving New York City, New York and the surrounding metropolitan area, it broadcasts a variety of sports events, as well as magazine, documentary and discussion programs. As of 2017, it is said that the company is worth over $1.4 billion with its continuous success in streaming and broadcasting. In 2014, the YES Network announced an average 223,000 households in Yankees game broadcasts.
9. Reebok
Brand Value – $0.8 Billion
Reebok is a global athletic footwear and apparel company, operating as a subsidiary of Adidas since 2005. Reebok is the official footwear and apparel sponsor for Ultimate Fighting Championship and also CrossFit and Spartan Race. What started out in 1895, Joseph William Foster at the age of 14 started work in his bedroom above his father’s sweet shop in Bolton, England, and designed some of the earliest spiked running shoes. Little did he know that by 1981, Reebok would reach sales more than $1.5 million.
10. NESN
Brand Value – $0.65 Billion
New England Sports Network is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network that is owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group . NESN launched on March 21, 1984, originally operating as a premium channel. The network’s inaugural telecast was a spring training game between the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigersfrom Lakeland, Florida. The company grew from year to year and provides households with the latest and best action of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Bruins. As of 2017, the brand is said to be worth over $600 million.
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