Sports

#RichestClub: Manchester United Overtake Real Madrid As Richest Club In The World

Published

8 years ago

January 19, 2017

Manchester United have returned to the top of the Deloitte Football Money League for the first time since 2005.

However, Brexit, which has seen the pound fall against the euro, may see them struggle to stay ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona next year.

The Deloitte study, which has been ranking the world’s richest football teams for 20 years now, says the United’s turnover during the 2015/2016 season, surpassed every other club’s.

United have become the first football team to earn more than £500million in a season – the club’s total revenue is pegged at £515m.

Real, who have topped the list for 11 years, were beaten to second place by their La Liga rivals by just €100,000.

Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “Manchester United have had to wait 11 years to regain their position as the world’s leading revenue-generating club and it has taken phenomenal commercial revenue growth to help them achieve this.

“In recent years, their ability to secure commercial partnerships with value in excess of that achievable by their peers has been the crucial factor in enabling the club to regain their place at the top of the Money League.

“That said, they’ll face strong competition from FC Barcelona and Real Madrid to retain the top spot in next year’s edition, due to the lack of Champions League football, the weakening of the pound against the Euro and, over the longer term, as other clubs enter the commercial market demanding similar deals, using United as the precedent.”

United’s major revenues come from their record-breaking kit and sponsorship deals with Adidas and Chevrolet. Their income was also boosted by a return to the Champions League.

Deloitte Football Money League Table

Rank +/- Team 2015/16 Revenue (£m) 2014/15 Revenue (£m)

1 +2 Manchester United 515.3 395.2

2 = Barcelona 463.8 426.6

3 -2 Real Madrid 463.8 439

4 +1 Bayern Munich 442.7 360.6

5 +1 Manchester City 392.6 352.6

6 -2 Paris Saint-Germain 389.6 365.8

7 = Arsenal 350.4 331.3

8 = Chelsea 334.6 319.5

9 = Liverpool 302 298.1

10 = Juventus 255.1 246.4