Can Inter Miami overtake LAFC? The most valuable MLS clubs in 2025

Tom Weber

• 10 Nov 2025 13:30 CST
• 7 min read

Analysis

Los Angeles FC was still Major League Soccer's most valuable franchise heading into the 2025 season, but Inter Miami has been catching up rapidly, according to Forbes.

Every year, the American business magazine ranks football's most valuable clubs, including the domestic teams based in MLS. For the past three years, LAFC has been the division's highest-valued entity.

Thanks to Hollywood owners, lucrative sponsorship deals, a cooperation with German giants Bayern Munich and massive success on the field, LAFC has surpassed its El Traffico rival LA Galaxy in terms of attractiveness.

However, with Inter Miami joining the league in 2020, a new challenger approached, funded by soccer superstar David Beckham and billionaire Jorge Mas. The arrival of 2022 World Cup winner Lionel Messi in 2023 gave the Florida club and MLS as a whole a huge boost.

It is, therefore, somewhat surprising that LAFC remained MLS's most valuable club heading into the 2025 season, but the SoCal side's advantage appears to be fading.

MLS's most valuable teams

Forbes' list, released in February, highlighted the uncertainty surrounding Messi's future as one of the big factors in Miami still lagging behind LAFC, as well as in MLS's overall growth slowing down.

Until recently, there was a very real threat of Messi departing MLS after the playoffs as his contract would have been up in December. However, in a huge boost for MLS and the Herons, he has signed a bumper new deal until 2028.

The question of how to maintain the Messi-driven MLS momentum has occupied league and club officials for some time. His extension has offered some respite, but questions continue to linger.

Miami has been hard at work tying up sponsorship deals, while MLS is hoping that its next broadcasting agreement will bring it more in line with the NFL ($12.4 billion) and the NBA ($6.9bn). MLS currently earns $250 million annually from its Apple deal, while having to shoulder the $80m production costs.

Last month, MLS announced that 11.2m supporters had attended games during the 2025 regular season, a 12 per cent increase since 2022 and the second highest total on record. The addition of a well-supported expansion side in San Diego FC was crucial to achieving this.

San Diego does not yet feature in Forbes' list, but the other 29 MLS franchises do. LAFC still just about edges Inter Miami with a valuation of $1.25bn compared to $1.2b. However, LAFC's four per cent growth over 2024 hardly compares to Miami's 17 per cent.

Although LAFC will have boosted its valuation with the addition of South Korean superstar Son Heung-min in the summer, Miami will likely claim top spot next year or in 2027 at the latest, given that the Herons are set to open their new 25,000-seater stadium in 2026.

The LA Galaxy sits third with a valuation of $1bn after winning MLS Cup in 2024 and a five per cent increase. It will be interesting to see the Galaxy's 2026 valuation after a second-from-bottom finish in the Western Conference in 2025. None of the other MLS teams are valued at over $1bn.

Forbes' methodology is as follows: "To rank the most valuable Major League Soccer franchises, Forbes examined recent transaction data, reviewed publicly available financial information and spoke to more than 50 team executives, owners, investment bankers and industry insiders. All published figures are Forbes estimates.

"Revenue and operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) reflect the 2024 season. Playoff games, player transfers and shared distributions from MLS were excluded from revenue calculations.

"Team values include the economics of the team’s stadium (including non-MLS revenue that accrues to the team’s owner) but not the value of the stadium real estate itself. Values also include ancillary revenue streams that are captured in the team’s financial statements but exclude other businesses or assets with separate financial statements."

MLS teams compared to other clubs around the world

MLS is still very much a league that is growing, and despite clubs' billionaire owners, there is still a significant discrepancy compared to Europe's elite divisions and their teams.

LAFC, Inter Miami and the LA Galaxy are the only MLS franchises that crack Forbes' top 20 of the most valuable clubs around the world. All told, eight MLS clubs made Forbes' annual top 30 list for 2025.

LaLiga giants Real Madrid have topped the list for the fourth year running with a whopping valuation of $6.75bn. Man Utd, Barcelona, Liverpool and Man City complete the top five.

Madrid have seen a two per cent increase in their value since the previous list in 2024 and are officially valued at $6.75bn. There are only two clubs or teams in the history of sport that have posted revenue over a billion dollars for a single year - Real Madrid and the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

The closest another football club has come to that figure is the Premier League's Manchester City, who recorded revenue of $901m in the 2023/24 campaign.

It is Man City's fierce rivals Manchester United who are second on the list of most valuable teams, however, with value recorded by Forbes at $6.6bn, once again ahead of third-placed Barcelona, valued at $5.65bn.

The top 30 includes 12 teams from the Premier League, four from Serie A, three from La Liga, two from Bundesliga and one from Ligue 1. There are eight teams from Major League Soccer in the United States.

The overall valuation of the top 30 is around $72 billion which makes for an average of $2.4bn - a 5 per cent increase from 2024.

Real Madrid may be the most valuable football club, but their value pales in comparison to the most valuable brand in all of sport - the Dallas Cowboys, who are valued at $10.1bn.

Certain ownership and ticket price restrictions around Europe mean the uber-capitalist nature of Major League Soccer is allowing for more growth across the pond. For example, LA Galaxy are worth $100m more than Aston Villa even though they record a third of the Premier League side's revenue.

There are outliers, though, as the value of Arsenal and Newcastle increased by 31 per cent and 38 per cent respectively over the last year.

The original list by Forbes was released in May and then updated in July, so next year's figures will look significantly different. Chelsea, for example, received a huge boost in revenue as they won the Club World Cup in the USA over the summer.

For a full breakdown of Forbes' top 30, see the table below.

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