Seahawks vs. Patriots: Who wins the Valuation Bowl?

This Seattle Seahawks–New England Patriots matchup features two legendary franchises, two passionate fan bases, and two very different price tags. Instead of predicting who’ll hoist the Lombardi Trophy (which isn’t really our expertise), we’re taking a more Avalara-appropriate approach: valuing the franchises themselves to determine the champion.

This is basically the same puzzle local tax assessors solve every single day — although usually not with football teams, and almost certainly not with dollar amounts in the billions. Assessors determine an objective value based on evidence, document the methodology, and make it defensible. 

Assessors typically apply this for tangible property: factory equipment, data centers, pipelines, telecom infrastructure, and so on. While NFL franchise value is driven largely by intangible economics (media rights, brand equity, durable cash flows), the process is remarkably similar.

Every good valuation starts with evidence. Here’s what we used:

• Forbes 2025 NFL team valuations — franchise value, revenue, operating income
• Sportico 2025 NFL valuations — enterprise value plus team-related real estate/business holdings
• Transaction reality checks — recent NFL control-sale prices (Broncos at $4.65 billion, Commanders at $6.05 billion, according to ESPN reports) and reported Patriots minority-stake pricing

From there, we reconciled the evidence the way any assessor (or valuation analyst) would: Compare sources, compute implied multiples, and sanity-check against market transactions. 

This year’s Valuation Bowl wasn’t particularly close: The Patriots (about $9.0 billion) crushed the Seahawks (about $6.7 billion) by a spread of $2.3 billion. It’s a far cry from the first time these teams played in the Super Bowl, a 28–24 New England win that went down to the wire. Even the highest end of Seattle’s range was $2 billion behind the lowest end of New England’s range. 

1. Revenue scale: Forbes puts Patriots revenue at $762 million vs. $624 million for the Seahawks. More cash coming in generally means more value.
2. Premium multiple: The Patriots trade at ~11.8x revenue vs. ~10.7x for the Seahawks. That’s the market telling you there’s extra juice in that brand.
3. Market anchoring: An 8% minority stake in the Patriots sold at an implied ~$9 billion valuation, according to the Financial Times. Real transactions are the gold standard in valuation — and this one supports the top-end estimates.

One thing to note: Franchise value doesn’t necessarily translate into Super Bowl wins. How do I know this? I’m a Cowboys fan. They’re the most valuable team in the NFL at about $13 billion, according to Forbes — and they haven’t won the title since the 1995 season. This year they didn’t even make the playoffs. 

Just making it to the Super Bowl (and the Valuation Bowl, of course) is a worthy accomplishment. And it’s not all bad news for Seattle here: Forbes and Sportico cluster tightly around the same valuation (~$6.6 billion–$6.7 billion). When two independent sources converge, that’s exactly what you want when you’re defending a value in an audit or an appeal. Tight convergence equals defensible value. 

Everything, actually. Property tax is typically based on assessed value. Assessors use versions of the same market, income, and cost approaches that drive NFL franchise valuations — just applied to tangible business assets like manufacturing equipment, data centers, telecommunications infrastructure, pipelines, and power plants.

And when assessors get the value wrong? That’s when you need defensible evidence, documented methodology, and a reconciliation strategy.

At Avalara, we help companies manage the complexity of property tax compliance. Whether you’re dealing with assets across multiple jurisdictions, navigating valuation disputes, or just trying to file accurate returns on time, property tax can feel like its own contact sport. And if you get your Xs and Os wrong, you won’t just lose a game — you can cost your business real money.

Our solutions, including compliance automation and AI-powered Avalara Property Tax Managed Services, help businesses:

• Track and value assets accurately across jurisdictions.
• Identify overpayments and appeal opportunities.
• Reduce audit risk with defensible documentation.
• Free up internal teams to focus on strategic work.

If you’re in the business of valuing assets for tax purposes, or want to ensure your assets are valued properly, don’t take your eyes off the ball. Define the asset, use defensible evidence, reconcile conflicting inputs, and document everything. 

Avalara can help you automate this process. Learn more with this two-minute product tour — or schedule time with one of our property tax experts today.

Enjoy the game on Sunday!