The US sportswear maker and retailer Nike announced 15% increase in revenue during the first quarter of the current financial year, coming out on top of the brands' list followed by ESPN and adidas. Helping its cause, Forbes points out, is that the company has “almost 20% of athletic footwear market” around the world “and its stock price has outperformed the Dow Jones US Footwear index by 50% during the past five years.”

According to Forbes, Nike “the most valuable sports business is worth 19 billion US dollars, 1.7 billion US dollars more than last year. In other words, if the athletic apparel company had a different name, its market value would be 52 billion US dollars instead of 71 billion US dollars. For businesses that are not publicly traded, or are subsidiaries of another company, the brand value is the difference between the estimated value of the business brand and what the value of a similar business is worth.”

The accolade comes as a new study suggests that Nike has been saving money by paying less than rivals Under Armour and adidas in its college sports deals. As for athletes, Nike-sponsored LeBron James heads the list for the first time. The Super Bowl remains the top global sporting event, where it has been since its inception in 2007.