The National Football League's Cowboys were valued at $US4.2 billion ($NZ5.7 billion), a 5% jump compared to last year, Forbes said in a statement on Wednesday (local time).
It was the second year in a row that the Cowboys finished top of the list, having unseated Spanish football club Real Madrid last year.
Major League Baseball's New York Yankees, who have both the highest sponsorship revenue and premium seating revenue in MLB, jumped two spots to second on the list.
Their value rose 9% to $US3.7 billion ($NZ5.09 billion).
Football clubs Manchester United ($NZ5.08 billion), Barcelona ($NZ5.01 billion) and Real Madrid ($NZ4.93 billion) rounded out the top five.
The NFL's Los Angeles Rams were the biggest gainer.
They moved from outside the top 50 to 12th as their value doubled to $US2.9 billion ($NZ3.99 billion) with their relocation from St Louis last year.
"Relocations and new stadiums are fueling big increases in the value of NFL teams, with the Cowboys the economic model every franchise hopes to match," Kurt Badenhausen, a senior editor at Forbes Media, said.
"Jerry Jones turned a money-losing franchise into the most profitable sports franchise in the world as AT&T Stadium generates the highest sponsorship and premium seating revenue in the sport."
Teams from the NFL, which have lucrative broadcast contracts that are not comparable to any other league, accounted for over half of the list.
They occupied 29 spots in the ranking, including the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots ($NZ4.68 billion) at No 6.
The Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions were the only NFL teams that did not make the list.
MLB had eight teams on the list, followed by the National Basketball Association and European football, which each had seven teams on the list.
No ice hockey, Formula One or Nascar teams made the cut.
