Real Madrid have retained the title of richest club in world
soccer while European champions Barcelona have jumped into second
place as the Spanish arch-rivals topped the list of the game's big
earners.
The Football Money League report published by consultants
Deloitte on Thursday showed combined revenues from the top 20
earners hit 3.5 billion euros ($4.55 billion) boosted by TV and
sponsorship deals and was again made up entirely of European
clubs.
Real's income of 292.2 million euros for the 2005-06 season
meant the club generated over 30 million euros more than Barca but
the Catalan side's 25 percent revenue growth in the last 12 months
dwarfed Madrid's pedestrian six percent increase.
"Barcelona has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent
seasons, doubling their revenue since 2002/03," said Deloitte
partner Dan Jones.
While on the pitch success accounted for Barcelona's increased
wealth, much of Real's success was put down to the global appeal of
players like David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo as the
Madrid club marketed its Galacticos in Asia and to lucrative
corporate sponsors.
The influence of those former internationals has waned however
since Zidane has retired, Ronaldo has joined AC Milan and Beckham
has been dropped after signing a $250 million five-year deal to
join MLS club LA Galaxy next season.
"The two clubs (Real and Barca) have had contrasting strategies,
with Real focusing on driving commercial revenue from recruiting
its Galactico players and Barcelona having a more balanced revenue
profile," said Jones.
Manchester United, who topped the rich list every year until
2004/05, slipped into fourth place behind Italy's disgraced
Juventus, partly as the English side failed to make it into the
lucrative Champions League knockout phase.
The remaining top 10 places were filled by AC Milan (238.7
million euros), Chelsea (221), Inter Milan (206.6), Bayern Munich
(204.7), Arsenal (192.4) and Liverpool (176).
Future vision
With a wave of big money TV deals about to kick in across
Europe, Deloitte said media agreements would continue to drive up
clubs' revenues and pinpointed English teams as the biggest likely
beneficiaries after the latest round of bonanza deals.
"It is the rising value of broadcast rights to top-tier domestic
leagues that has underpinned overall revenue growth.
"The Premier League's recently concluded broadcasting deals may
see English teams contribute half of the top 20 clubs in 2007/08,"
they added.
The report warned, though, that spiralling television deals
would be unsustainable if media firms decide they will no longer
fork out hundreds of millions for the right to screen matches.
It said Italian clubs could also suffer if the government forces
clubs to share TV cash rather than negotiate individual deals with
broadcasters.
List of World's richest clubs
1 Real Madrid 292.2 million euros
2 Barcelona 259.1
3 Juventus 251.2
4 Manchester United 242.6
5 AC Milan 238.7
6 Chelsea 221.0
7 Inter Milan 206.6
8 Bayern Munich 204.7
9 Arsenal 192.4
10 Liverpool 176.0
11 Olympique Lyon 127.7
12 AS Roma 127.0
13 Newcastle United 124.3
14 Schalke 04 122.9
15 Tottenham Hotspur 107.2
16 Hamburg SV 101.8
17 Manchester City 89.4
18 Rangers 88.5
19 West Ham United 86.9
20 Benfica 85.1
(China Daily via Agencies February 9, 2007)