Manchester United narrowly pips Real Madrid to retain position as the highest revenue generating club in world football

25 January 2018

• Combined revenue for top 20 Money League clubs in the 2016/17 season grew 6% to €7.9bn, a new record;
• Manchester United retain top spot, the tenth time they have held the title of the highest revenue-generating club in the world, with a revenue of €676m (£581m);
• United’s UEFA Europa League victory was critical to them topping the Money League, with the differentiating impact of participation and success in UEFA competitions more crucial than ever across the top 20;
• Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League and domestic title winning season saw their revenue grow by €54.5m but ultimately this was only sufficient for second place in the Money League, missing out on top spot by the narrowest ever margin (€1.7m);
• FC Barcelona completes the top three, with Bayern Munich and Manchester City making up the top five;
• A record ten English clubs feature in the top 20, generating a total revenue of €3.8bn, helped by the fact that 2016/17 was the first season of the current record Premier League broadcast rights deal;
• Three clubs from Germany, three from Spain, three from Italy and one from France feature in the top 20. AC Milan falls out of the Football Money League top 20 for the first time;
• The 21st edition of the Deloitte Football Money League ranks the top 20 clubs by revenue in world football.

The 20 highest earning football clubs in the world generated €7.9bn (£6.8bn) of revenue in 2016/17, an increase of 6% on the previous year, according to the 21st edition of the Football Money League from Deloitte, the business advisory firm.

Manchester United, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona complete the top three of the Money League and it now takes revenue of almost €200m to be guaranteed a place in the top 20, almost double the amount required in the 2010 edition. Unsurprisingly, broadcast revenue is now the largest individual revenue stream for the Money League clubs, making up 45% of total revenue.

United hold on to Money League top spot, but only just…
2018 sees Manchester United retain first place, by the smallest ever margin (€1.7m) in the history of the Money League, from Real Madrid. United’s victory over Ajax in last season’s UEFA Europa League final was the critical factor as they received €44.5m in payments from UEFA. This is over four times more than Atlético de Madrid received in 2011/12 for winning the same competition. The concerted efforts by UEFA in recent years to make the Europa League more rewarding has benefitted United in this year’s Money League.

Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, comments: “European football continues to flourish financially, with almost half a billion Euro of revenue growth for the top 20 Money League clubs. And at the top, we’ve seen the closest ever battle for the top spot, with Manchester United pipping Real Madrid to retain their title of the highest revenue generating club in the world. United generated £581m in 2016/17.

“United’s ability to retain first position is all the more impressive against the backdrop of the weakened Pound against the Euro, and with both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona forecasting further revenue growth in 2017/18, the battle at the top will likely come down to on-pitch performance again next year. With all three clubs through to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, it may be as simple as the club that goes furthest in the competition will have the best chance of topping the Money League next year.”

Premier League continues to dominate
The English Premier League has ten teams in the top 20 this year, the most ever from one country, with Southampton (18th, £182.3m) making their debut Money League appearance, Manchester City consolidating their place in the top five and Leicester City rising to 14th, from 20th last year. Whilst all Premier League clubs benefited from the improved broadcast deals, it was Southampton and Leicester’s performance in European competitions which saw them gain their highest ever respective positions. Southampton’s broadcast revenue alone is greater than the total revenue of the 26th ranked team in this year’s Money League (Crystal Palace, £140.9m).

Elsewhere, Arsenal climb above Paris Saint-Germain into sixth and Tottenham Hotspur rise one place to eleventh. Chelsea and Liverpool remain in eighth and ninth respectively with West Ham United in 17th and Everton in 20th. Outside of the top 20, there are four more English clubs ranked 21 – 30, with AFC Bournemouth in 28th place. The Cherries’ revenue of £136.8m in 2016/17 is £135.7m higher than their equivalent figure in the first ever Money League in 1996/97.

Tim Bridge, senior manager in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, comments: “The Deloitte Football Money League has a particularly English feel this year and with the new broadcast deal and UEFA competition performance driving broadcast revenue growth of over half a billion pounds for those in the top 20, it doesn’t come as a surprise.

“As the Premier League is currently in the middle of its rights tender for the next cycle from 2019/20, the results of this will be crucial to determining the long term composition of the Money League.”

Elsewhere in Europe
The top five is completed by Bayern Munich, in fourth position, with Paris Saint-Germain slipping to seventh, the second consecutive year that they have dropped a place. Whilst PSG are again the only French club in the Money League, Olympique Lyonnais are resurgent, ranking just outside the top 20 after benefiting from increased revenue from their move to a new stadium and a successful run to the semi-final of the Europa League. AC Milan miss out for the first time but city rivals Internazionale move up four places to 15th after significant commercial revenue growth, following a takeover by the Chinese company, Suning. Performance in UEFA competitions was key to Napoli taking 19th place and AS Roma dropping out of the Money League for only the third time since we commenced our Money League analysis 21 years ago. 

Bridge adds: “The Money League remains the most effective and respected method of comparing the financial performance of football clubs and over the coming years it will be interesting to see how its composition might change. With the added element of changes to the qualification structure for the Champions League, it is likely that we’ll see some re-ordering of the clubs in years to come.”

End

Note to editors

To review the full findings of the Deloitte Football Money League, please visit: www.deloitte.co.uk/sportsbusinessgroup.

The Deloitte Football Money League – 2016/17 revenue

This press release is based on the Deloitte Football Money League published in January 2018. As explained more fully in the publication, the revenue figures are extracted from the annual financial statements of the company or group in respect of each club, or other direct sources, for the 2016/17 season.

There are many ways of examining the relative wealth or value of football clubs. For the Deloitte Football Money League, revenue has been used as the most easily available and comparable measure of financial performance.

Revenue excludes player transfer fees, VAT and other sales related taxes. In a few cases we have made adjustments to total revenue figures to enable, in our view, a more meaningful comparison of the football business on a club-by-club basis.

We have not performed any verification work or audited any of the information contained in the financial statements or other sources in respect of each club for the purpose of the publication. For the purpose of the international comparisons, unless otherwise stated, all figures for the 2016/17 season have been translated at the average exchange rate for the year ending 30 June 2017 (£1 = €1.1637; €1 = RUB73.5604). Comparative figures have been extracted from previous editions of the Deloitte Football Money League, or from relevant annual financial statements or other direct sources.

Later this year the Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance will be published, providing a more detailed analysis of the English and European football finance landscape.

Download the Greek press release Deloitte Football Money League 2018