September 29, 2024
Barcelona topples Real Madrid to become the highest-earning soccer club in the world for the first time
Barcelona has become the world’s highest-earning soccer club, usurping fierce rival Real Madrid at the top of Deloitte’s Football Money League for the first time.
The new study found that Barca generated a record-breaking revenue of $935.9m (840.8 million euros) last season, becoming only the third club to hold the top position.
As a result, Real Madrid slip into second with $842.9 million whilst Manchester United remained in third.
Despite uncertainty on the pitch, with the recent sacking of Ernesto Valverde, Deloitte says Barcelona “is a clear example of a club adapting to changing market conditions.”
The report outlines how the Catalan club has reduced its reliance on broadcast revenue deals and shifted its focus on revenue channels within its control.
The Spanish giant is expected to retain its top spot for next year and could become the first $1 billion Money League club in future seasons.
Barcelona usurped Real Madrid as the highest-earning soccer club.
The positions are ranked on clubs’ ability to generate revenue from factors such as matchday sales, broadcast rights, and commercial sources — based on the 2018/19 season. It does not include money generated from player sales.
The top 20 money-spinning clubs generated a staggering $10.3 billion in the 2018-19 season, an 11% increase from the year before.
Changing EPL
Elsewhere, Manchester United is at risk of losing its position as the highest-earning English Premier League club next year due to its declining performances on the pitch.
The Old Trafford outfit failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League this season and currently sit outside the qualification spots for next year’s edition.
Deloitte says the club’s predicted revenue for the current season “would likely see the club fall to its lowest ever Money League position in next year’s edition.”
Deloitte Football Money League
1) FC Barcelona – $935.9m
2) Real Madrid – $842.9m
3) Manchester United – $792m
4) Bayern Munich – $734.8m
5) Paris Saint-Germain – $707.8
6) Manchester City – $679.7m
7) Liverpool – $673.1m
8) Tottenham Hotspur – $580m
9) Chelsea – $571.1m
10) Juventus – $511.7
*Figures converted from Euros
However, United’s current demise is good news for two of its fiercest rivals.
European champion Liverpool retain its seventh spot after a successful season and, since announcing a lucrative multi-year kit deal with Nike, can now start looking at the teams above them in the Money League.
League champion Manchester City, meanwhile, falls down one place to sixth but is likely to return to the top five next year should its new commercial deals be twinned with a run in this season’s Champions League.
Elsewhere, eighth-placed Tottenham climbed to its highest ever position to become London’s top revenue generating club for the first time since 1996-97.
It leapfrogged above both Chelsea and Arsenal, with the latter falling out of the top 10 due to its continued absence from Europe’s most prestigious tournament. – cnn.com
