Lakers' Brand Is in Top 10.

The Dallas Cowboys hold the world's most valuable sports franchise brand, beating out the L.A. Lakers and Dodgers, which ranked No. 9 and No. 31, respectively, according to a first-of-its-kind study.

FutureBrand, a global corporate brand consultancy, valued the Cowboys' name and image at $274.3 million in its worldwide research.

The Lakers ($146.6 million) and Dodgers ($67.4 million) were the only L.A. teams among the list's 40 most valuable sports properties in 10 countries.

Sebastian Shapiro, FutureBrand's project director of brand valuation, said that team values were "calculated by examining revenue, local market conditions, merchandise sales and other factors, such as local competition, history of winning records and how many past players are in the hail of fame."

The single most important factor driving brand value, according to Shapiro and other FutureBrand officials, is a strong, passionate local fan base.

"The Los Angeles Lakers have a high brand value not only because they have a large and loyal fan base, but also because they have a strong winning record, have had a lot of star players, like Magic Johnson and now Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Byrant, and have a lot of celebrity fans, which drives up value," Shapiro said.

Some of those same factors helped put the Los Angeles Dodgers on the list.

"The Dodgers haven't won the World Series for awhile, but they've been around for a long time, have loyal fans and many of their past players are legendary," he said.

John Elkins, CEO of FutureBrand, said that brand value isn't just a consequence of winning records and loyal fans, but of how successfully management markets a team's popularity.

"Increasing the value of the brand is one of the best means to ensure the longevity of the customer franchise and to ensure that there is a strong cash generation, even in times when the team's record of winning is not so strong," he said. "Winning doesn't matter so much once you have established a brand, but you need to win to get there."

                             World's Top Teams
                     Two L.A. franchises are among the
                     most valuable sports brand names.
                           Value
Franchise                (millions)
 1. Dallas Cowboys         $274.3
 2. Manchester              258.9
 3. Washington Redskins     210.5

 4. New York Yankees        180.1
 5. New York Knicks         171.0
 6. Real Madrid             155.1
 7. Bayern Munich          $150.2
 8. San Francisco 49'ers    147.3
 9. Los Angeles Lakers      146.5
10. New York Rangers        145.7
31. Los Angeles Dodgers      67.4
Source: Future Brand Worldwide