Real Madrid bested NBA and NFL teams in bagging the recognition of being Forbes' World's Most Valuable Sports Team for 2015.

For the third year in a row, Cristiano Ronaldo-headlined Real ranks first at $3.26 billion, pushing off huge American football teams Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees, tied for second at $3.2 billion.

Despite bagging the top rank, Real's estimated value dropped by five percent the last year.

"The value of the franchise is down, thanks largely to the decline of the euro against the dollar," said the Forbes report.

Forbes added that the stalled renovation plans for Santiago Bernabéu is also considered "the cruelest blow from a financial perspective."

American Football cashing in

The Dallas Cowboys have been winning on the field, but the Forbes list is proof that business is doing good as well. Forbes placed the Cowboys next to Real on the list, being the most valuable NFL team, checking in at $3.2 billion.

Forbes reported that The Cowboys have been the most valuable American football team for the past eight years, generating more than $100 million annually from seating and sponsors of the AT&T stadium, hinged on a $500 million naming rights deal with communications giant AT&T.

New York's flagship sports team Yankees didn't let itself get beat as it tied the Cowboys at the second place for all sports and is side by side with the Dallas team on top of the most valuable NFL franchise list.

Owned by the Steinbrenner family, the Yankees are part of a well-oiled business machine that includes the YES Network and Legends Hospitality, added Forbes. In 2014, the Yankees, YES and Legends' estimated enterprise value was recorded at $5.5 billion.

Finishing off the top five are two European teams: the Spanish FC Barcelona and English Manchester United.

Barca is pegged at $3.16 billion while the Red Devils are reported at $3.1 billion finishing fifth on the list.

TV Deals

Camp Nou and Bernabeu take more than a third of Spanish sports TV profits, raking in £204 million share of the total £550 million pool each year, according to the Daily Mail. However, Spain's big two are still worlds apart from how U.S. and U.K. sports franchises are faring in the arena of rights deals, noted CNN.

"The undisputed TV king in the world of sports is the NFL, which kicked off new network deals last year worth more than $5 billion a year, not including its $1.5 billion-a-year pact with DirecTV," wrote Forbes.

The average current value of a team on the list is on its highest-ever at $1.75 billion, a 31% increase from last year, based on Forbes' figures.