Real Madrid is still richest

[Pennywise]

A survey from accounting firm Deloitte shows that Spanish club Real Madrid was once again the richest football club in the world in terms of overall revenue.

Madrid, champions of the Spanish league last season, had total revenues of £236 million according to Deloitte. Manchester United, winners of the English Premier League title last season and long time leaders in Deloitte's rankings, finished second this year with revenues of £212 million.

The rest of the top ten were: Barcelona FC (£195 million), Chelsea (£191 million), Arsenal (£178 million), AC Milan (£153 million), Bayern Munich (£150 million), Liverpool (£134 million), Inter Milan (£131 million) and AS Roma (£106 million).

Deloitte's figures take into account ticket sales, broadcasting deals and merchandising.

[Jager]

I think in twenty years or so, Real Madrid could lose that dominant spot up top, as the Italian giants and English clubs are making more inroads into Asia. This will be a huge source of revenue for all clubs involved there.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Weren't Madrid the first team to exploit the Asian market back in the Beckham-mania period ?

[Jager]

Originally Posted by Oliver_Kahn

Weren't Madrid the first team to exploit the Asian market back in the Beckham-mania period ?

I'm not sure about that, possibly. But I know certain clubs have really invested a lot of time and money there.

I speak for my club for example, where they wore kits with "Pirelli" written in Chinese, we've opened a store right in the middle of the Olympic area, and all our games are seen live on TV there.

Like any investment, it will happen over time. No I have no doubt that Real Madrid are the greatest and largest club on the planet, and they have tremendously ability to maintain that top spot. However I think you will see more competititon there.


I have to admit, seeing Bayern there, is very surprising. They must tremendous support in Germany, in that they dwarf every other club??

[Podolski]

actually - if this is coming from the same source I read a day or two ago which I think it is - germany have as many clubs in the top 20 as italy. (4)

[Podolski]

found it for you.

United second as Real remain richest club

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Real Madrid held its position as the world's richest soccer club as English clubs climbed the rankings to claim three of the top five slots in an annual survey by accountancy firm Deloitte [DLTE.UL].

Manchester United climbed two places to second in the latest 'Football Money League' table of the world's 20 biggest soccer clubs ranked by revenue, Deloitte said.

London-based teams Chelsea and Arsenal also climbed to fourth and fifth places, respectively, while Barcelona dropped one place from second to third, Deloitte said.

'This is the first time that any country has had three clubs in the top five of the Money League,' said Dan Jones, a partner at the Sports Business Group at Deloitte. 'Arsenal's move to the Emirates Stadium has transformed their revenues whilst Chelsea's revenue increase sees them return to the top five.'

Real Madrid, which won the Spanish Liga last season, saw its revenues leap 20 percent to 351 million euros ($511.2 million) during the 2006/07 season, while Manchester United, also winners of last season's Premier League, posted revenues of 315 million euros, Deloitte said.

'With the new Premier League television deals now online for the 2007/08 season, Manchester United have the opportunity to significantly close the gap on Real,' Jones said. 'A successful Champions League run may even see them challenge again for the number one position.'

Combined revenues for the top 20 clubs'rose by 11 percent to 3.7 billion euros, the highest rate of growth since the 2002/03 season, Deloitte said.

The top 20 included six English clubs, four from both Germany and Italy; three from Spain, two French and one from Scotland.

'The performance of German clubs particularly catches the eye, with enhanced revenues being generated from new and improved stadia,' said Alan Switzer, Director in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.

'The stadium is a club's biggest asset and the majority of the Money League clubs are looking to complete stadium developments in the short and medium term.'

The number of English clubs in the ranking fell from eight to six, although it may increase again next year, the accountancy firm said.

'Clubs such as Aston Villa, Everton, Manchester City and West Ham United are already just outside the top 20 and with the revenue uplift from the new broadcast deals now benefiting the clubs, we expect to see the bottom half of next year's Money League dominated by English teams,' said Paul Rawnsley, Director in the Sports Business Group said.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by Jager

I'm not sure about that, possibly. But I know certain clubs have really invested a lot of time and money there.

I speak for my club for example, where they wore kits with "Pirelli" written in Chinese, we've opened a store right in the middle of the Olympic area, and all our games are seen live on TV there.

Like any investment, it will happen over time. No I have no doubt that Real Madrid are the greatest and largest club on the planet, and they have tremendously ability to maintain that top spot. However I think you will see more competititon there.


I have to admit, seeing Bayern there, is very surprising. They must tremendous support in Germany, in that they dwarf every other club??

Bayern is indeed the club with the most fans in Germany, but in terms of numbers, they don't crush the other teams as badly as many may think.

And yes Bayern have also exploited the Asia market quite a lot, for instance, you can read Bayern's website in 4 languages other than German, which are English, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese.

The bundesliga has live feed in 5 different channels on both Japan and China and all 5 are mainly for Bayern matches, very unlikely that they'll broadcast a match of another team instead of Bayern.

They also went to Japan last year to play against Uwara Red Diamonds and Kahn, once he retires, will work in China to coach the goalkeepers, so I can see Bayern's popularity in Asia increasing even more.

[Podolski]

1. Real Madrid C.F. 351.8 Spain
2. Manchester United FC 315.4 England
3. FC Barcelona 291.1 Spain
4. Chelsea FC 284.4 England
5. Arsenal F.C. 264.2 England
6. AC Milan 227.7 Italy
7. FC Bayern Munich 223.7 Germany
8. Liverpool FC 202.1 England
9. FC Internazionale Milano 195.4 Italy
10. A.S. Roma 157.7 Italy
11. Tottenham Hotspur 153.6 England
12. Juventus FC 145.5 Italy
13. Olympique Lyonnais 141.5 France
14. Newcastle United 129.4 England
15. Hamburger SV 121.3 Germany
16. Schalke 04 114.5 Germany
17. Celtic 111.8 Scotland
18. Valencia CF 107.8 Spain
19. Olympique de Marseille 99.7 France
20. SV Werder Bremen 97.0 Germany

theres the list

[Sven]

Next 3-7 years I can easilly see Arsenal,United and Chelsea occupying the top 3 spots.

Real losing Beckham... the EPL getting bigger. It's a matter of time.

The fact that Chelsea and United are ran very very well too, helps.

[azzurri]

Juve were 3rd b4 entering serie b. They lost 100 million euro's last season, not including tens of millions more in future revenue from yearly Tamoil sponsorship (the most expensive sponsorship deal in football at the time). Juve were able to eat away at their loses even in serie b, and of the big Italian sides, it has the least debt. Things will return back to normal in a few seasons and they will rise backup the list.

The English sides will always dominate though because of their TV deal. Although alot of them have huge debts courtesy of American buyouts (Utd, Liverpool) our a new stadium (Arsenal). Those figures don't accurately represent their spending power, since alot of their moneyt has to go towards paying the interest on a huge debt, not to mention eliminating it.

[Jager]

Originally Posted by Sven

Next 3-7 years I can easilly see Arsenal,United and Chelsea occupying the top 3 spots.

Real losing Beckham... the EPL getting bigger. It's a matter of time.

The fact that Chelsea and United are ran very very well too, helps.

Honestly, I think its mostly the fact that English clubs are thought highly by english speaking people in the world. And their games are still broadcast more than other sides.

However these things change very quickly. Its quite evident, that this IS revenue, not profit. So until we see that, it really doesn't matter how much money you make, its how much money is profit.

Roma make a lot of money, but they have debt which holds them back.

I doubt that Arsenal or Chelsea made more "profit" than Milan.

[G-R87]

IMO Real Madrid's top spot is highly because of Beckham Mania.

Think about it, When Beckham is at Man UTD they occupy #1. Beckham moves to Real Madrid, then they soon Occupy #1 and Man UTD slip down. There is a clear relationship IMO.

I am not convinced that it is entirely because of this, but I think that there is truth behind my theory.

Also, with several of the other teams, their revenue id highly to do with what superstars are at the club. The face of the superstar is what makes the club a successful brand...Brand Beckham being the most prominant.

[Pennywise]

Originally Posted by Sven

Next 3-7 years I can easilly see Arsenal,United and Chelsea occupying the top 3 spots.

Real losing Beckham... the EPL getting bigger. It's a matter of time.

The fact that Chelsea and United are ran very very well too, helps.

That won't happen so close I'm afraid since Real Madrid and Barcelona have signed the biggest TV contract ever over the next five-six years. The two giants is also two of the biggest football clubs in the world with so much resources and fans worldwide.

Becks was an important key before he joined in 2003, but remember that 100 years before that, Madrid have captured that spot.

ManUtd and Arsenal have also owners. Also, the income goes to the investors while the income in Spain goes right to the club ready to be used.

Manchester United have the chances to be number 1, but Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will not be kicked down by Chelsea and Gunners in near future.

[LAF]

This doesn't include the new TV money for the PL btw. I expect next year United will top this, boringly enough.