In summarizing the Chicago Bears consistent recent ineptitude, the legendary Dick Butkus concluded: “It’s embarrassing. I don’t give a damn (about) the draft or whatever; there’s no reason we should be in this situation, one of the best franchises.”
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Another Chicago team cracked the top 20, with the Cubs coming in 18th overall, fourth in Major League Baseball.
“I don’t think you can use the excuse in the old days ‘oh they’re cheap, and they don’t pay for players;’ I don’t see that, not with what they gave Cutler for crying out loud,” Butkus continued.
He’s right, the Bears are flushed with cash, and they’re not miserly about it either. The Chicago Bears ranked 144th out of 333 international teams (in the top half) surveyed in a 2015 ESPN/SportingIntelligence report identifying the teams that spend the most on their rosters players.
Here is the top 18 on the Forbes list.
Rank, Team, Value, 1-Yr change (Sport)
1. Dallas Cowboys, $4.2 billion, 5% (NFL)
2. New York Yankees, $3.7 billion, 9% (MLB)
3. Manchester United, $3.69 billion, 11% (Soccer)
4. Barcelona, $3.64 billion, 2% (Soccer)
5. Real Madrid, $3.58 billion, -2% (Soccer)
6. New England Patriots, $3.4 billion, 6% (NFL)
7. New York Knicks, $3.3 billion, 10% (NBA)
8. New York Giants, $3.1 billion, 11% (NFL)
9. San Francisco 49ers, $3 billion, 11% (NFL)
9. Los Angeles Lakers, $3 billion, 11% (NBA)
11. Washington Redskins, $2.95 billion, 4% (NFL)
12. Los Angeles Rams, $2.9 billion, 100% (NFL)
13. New York Jets, $2.75 billion, 6% (NFL)
13. Los Angeles Dodgers, $2.75 billion, 10% (MLB)
15. Bayern Munich, $2.71 billion, 1% (Soccer)
16. Chicago Bears, $2.7 billion, 10% (NFL)
16. Boston Red Sox, $2.7 billion, 17% (MLB)
18. Chicago Cubs, $2.68 billion, 22% (MLB)
“I really don’t know what’s going on inside, but it really burns me that they’re not competitive,” Butkus said of his former NFL team. “I don’t know what the hell it is.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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