Real Madrid tops Forbes' annual list of world's most valuable sports teams

Real Madrid has topped Forbes' annual list of the world's most valuable sports teams.

Forbes said that the Spanish football club is worth an estimated 3.44 billion dollars.

According to The BBC, Real Madrid, who won the Champions League in May, is followed by Barcelona in second place at 3.2 billion dollars and Manchester United at the third, with 2.81 billion dollars.

Forbes calculated the value of the teams based on equity, debt and stadium deals with football clubs occupying the top three slots.

MLB baseball team the New York Yankees were in fourth spot, valued at 2.5 billion dollars followed by NFL American Football team the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth place, worth 2.3 billion dollars.

NFL teams fill 60 percent of the top 50 slots, occupying 30 places and the 20 non-NFL teams in the top 50 include six from MLB, eight from football, four from NBA basketball, one from the NHL ice hockey league and one from Formula 1 motor racing.

Forbes calculated that the average value of the top 50 teams is 1.34 billion dollars, which shows an 8 percent increase on last year, the report added.