Forbes values Indianapolis Colts at $1.88 billion

The Indianapolis Colts have been winning on the field a lot over the last two decades, establishing a franchise that is one of the models of consistency and of a winning organization.  It seems like they're doing pretty well off the field, too.  According to Forbes' most recent rankings, the Indianapolis Colts are the 14th-most valued NFL franchise at an estimated $1.88 billion.

The Colts have increased their value by 24% over the past year according to Forbes, earning $321 million in revenue.  The Colts are behind the Cowboys, Patriots, Redskins, Giants, 49ers, Jets, Texans, Bears, Eagles, Packers, Broncos, Ravens, and Steelers on the list.

Here's what Forbes had to say about the Colts and where they are valued:

The Colts made it to the AFC Championship game last season where they were blown out by the eventual Super Bowl winners, New England. The crux of the value of the Colts is their great lease at Lucas Oil Stadium, where the team pays annual rent of just $250,000, and a rock-solid balance sheet that has almost no debt. For the 2015 season, the Colts went from six to 11 price points for non-premium seating. The team lowered some ticket prices, but increased others to reflect what the team says is demand shown on the secondary market. The changes in ticket prices will amount to an overall increase of 1.3%, placing the average non-premium ticket at about $87, right around the NFL average.

The Lucas Oil Stadium deal is indeed incredibly beneficial for the Colts, and that in itself seems like it would be enough to cause the Colts to be valued nicely on this list.  In other words, owner Jim Irsay is doing quite nicely.  We also continue to see that the NFL hauls in a ton of money and value, and if you're an owner of an NFL team, you're likely not too disappointed right now from the monetary side of things.