United still the world's most valuable sports team
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Manchester United still the world's most valuable sports team despite debt mountain
Popular: Fans turn up to welcome United in South Africa
Money matters: The Glazer family own Manchester United
THE FORBES TOP 10
1 Manchester United - £1.43billion
2 Real Madrid - £1.20bn
3= NY Yankees - £1.18bn
3= Dallas Cowboys - £1.18bn
5 Washington Redskins - £1bn
6= LA Dodgers - £895m
6= NE Patriots - £895m
8 Barcelona - £838m
9 New York Giants - £831m
10 Arsenal - £825m
Manchester United have retained their title as the world's most valuable sports team despite the Glazers' debt pile, according to Forbes.
The Red Devils were valued at £1.43billion, up from £1.2bn. The scale of United's financial might was demonstrated by them being valued £250m higher than second-placed Real Madrid.
Despite the increase in value, United were still £424m in debt in March.
But the club is taking steps to reduce its debt pile by listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The club - who narrowly lost out on the Premier League title this year to staunch rivals Manchester City - hopes to raise £64m from selling shares to Wall Street investors.
The flotation would leave the Glazer family in charge: the billionaire US sports investors bought the club in 2005 for £940million, taking on debt of £423m.United said it would would use the money raised from the flotation to reduce that total.
United's top ranking comes from thir many lucrative global sponsorship deals. Shirt sponsor American Insurance firm Aon has agreed a £19.8m a year contract until 2014.
DHL Express also recently signed a four-year deal with the club worth a reported £40m to sponsor United's training shirts, in a first for a practice kit sponsorship deal for football in the UK, while sports brand Nike manages the team's merchandise sales in an agreement worth around £25m annually.
All 32 NFL franchises made the top 50 list with the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots and Super Bowl champion New York Giants all securing spots in the top 10.
The Forbes top 50 included seven football teams, with Arsenal falling three places to 10th and Barcelona up 18 to eighth.