Forbes: Milwaukee Bucks are worth more than $1 billion, up 37% in the last year

The Milwaukee Bucks are worth $1.075 billion, and the value of the team increased 37% in the past year, according to a new estimate by Forbes magazine.

The value of the team has nearly doubled since New York billionaires Wes Edens and Marc Lasry bought the team for $550 million in 2014 from retired Sen. Herb Kohl.

Forbes said that the Bucks generated annual revenue of $179 million, last in the league.

The Forbes estimate puts the Bucks value at No. 26 out of 30 NBA teams. The most valuable is the New York Knicks which are worth an estimated $3.6 billion, up 9%, with annual revenue of $426 million.

The average value of a NBA team is $1.65 billion, up 22% in the past year, and annual revenue was $246 million, Forbes said.

The Bucks will move this fall into the new $525 million arena under construction just north of their present home at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The arena project is supported by $250 million in taxpayer funds.

Forbes noted that the value of NBA teams is escalating rapidly.

"Franchise values have tripled over the past five years," Forbes said. "Credit the league’s economics, in particular its international growth prospects, which are the best of any major U.S. sports league."

Forbes added: "Investors believe the NBA has far greater potential to grow overseas than the NFL, which has struggled beyond the United States. NBA revenue outside the U.S. is growing at a rate in the high teens annually."

In an interview last fall, Edens said he thought the team was worth $1 billion.

"I think if not now, then very soon, every team in the league will be worth a billion dollars or more," Edens said. "I think once our arena gets online this is a billion dollar organization."

Edens said he had upbeat news for the local investors in the Bucks when he met with them.

"Economically, this has been a very good investment for them. The franchise is worth a lot more money than when we bought it and I think it's got a long ways to go."

Bucks President Peter Feigin discussed the team value during an appearance on CNBC in October.

"I think the Bucks have appreciated. In a big way," he said, noting the sale prices of other teams in the years since the Bucks were sold.

"The (L.A.) Clippers went for $2 billion. The Houston Rockets just went (for) over $2 billion."