Oakland Raiders Rise in Forbes NFL Team Value Rankings

August 30, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis before a preseason NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals at O.co Coliseum. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 30-23. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Forbes has released its annual list of NFL team valuation rankings, and the Oakland Raiders have seen a significant rise in the rankings.

In the 19th year that Forbes has done NFL team valuations, the Oakland Raiders have been a mainstay on the bottom of the rankings for the last 13 years.

But it’s a new year, and Oakland is no longer in the cellar of Forbes’ team valuations.

In the 2015 edition, Oakland ranked 31st out of 32 teams. Forbes pegged the Raiders with a value of $1.43B, with revenue in the previous year at $285M.

In the 2016 edition, released today, Oakland is ranked 20th. Forbes gives the Raiders a valuation of $2.1B, with revenue in the previous year at $301M.

This is a 47% increase year-over-year, quite a significant jump. Per Forbes, that increase is greatly higher than the league average:

Oakland is still trying to figure out where they will play their homes game long-term, and while excitement about the on-field product is high, the team still needs to prove itself as a winning franchise. So why the big jump in value?

Per Forbes, the increase in valuation may be a result in anticipation of getting a new stadium than anything else:

So while that may be jumping a gun a little bit, the Raiders are going to get a new stadium at some point. Somewhere. Eventually. Maybe.

Regardless, it’s nice to see the team trending up, both on and off the field.