Deloitte Football Money is an annual survey that analyzes the state of business in football. From this study, we examined the chart concerning the revenue (revenue/income) of the 20 football clubs during the 2009/2010 season.
The 20 richest football clubs in the world!
For the first time, the revenues of the 20 richest football clubs in the world exceeded 4 billion euros combined in the 2009/2010 season! Real Madrid is at the top ahead of FC Barcelona and Manchester United!
The firm Deloitte, specialized in auditing and consulting, has just published in this February 2011 the result of an annual study on the revenue sources of professional football clubs and has ranked the 20 richest clubs in the world.
This is the 14th edition of this study called “Football Money League” and published nine months after the end of the 2009/2010 season. This report represents one of the most modern and reliable analyses of the relative financial performance of professional football clubs. It is important to note that this study does not take into account the debts or investments of the clubs but only their performance in terms of revenue.
The data used is directly taken from the annual financial reports of the clubs (or the companies, or groups of companies, that own them) for the 2009/2010 season. To arrive at each club’s total revenue, their income was divided into three categories:
• “Matchday” incomes, which mainly come from ticket sales, and to a lesser extent, from revenues earned in the stadium on match days.
• TV rights incomes, including those from national and international competitions.
• Commercial incomes including sponsorship and merchandising revenues.
For the first time, the revenues of the 20 richest football clubs in the world exceeded 4 billion euros combined in the 2009/2010 season!
For the sixth consecutive year, Real Madrid is at the top of the hierarchy and is crowned the richest football club in the world. With a total revenue of 438.6 million euros, it’s also the first club to exceed 400 million euros annually. FC Barcelona and Manchester United complete the podium with 398.1 and 349.8 million euros, respectively, followed by Bayern Munich, Arsenal, and Chelsea! Even if Barça is nearly 40 million euros behind its historical rival, the report notes that the “blaugrana” club should also significantly exceed 400 million euros in the next 2010/2011 season.
The top ten clubs in this year’s ranking hold the top ten spots for the second consecutive year, with a top 6 identical to last year’s. Six clubs in this top 10 have been in the top 10 of this “Money Championship 2010” for ten years! This indicates the strong stability of these football clubs and, above all, the path that remains for other European clubs aspiring to be part of this elite. Nevertheless, the report forecasts that one or two clubs may cross this step in the next two years thanks to the expected sports results.
This ranking is dominated by the Spanish duo Barça/Real. It is undeniable that the strong increase in FC Barcelona’s revenues is the direct consequence of outstanding sports performances in recent years by the Catalan club; contrary to Real Madrid whose revenue growth was achieved despite modest sports performances, particularly in the Champions League.
The Champions League also carries significant weight in the position of clubs in this ranking since this study reveals that 14 of the top 20 clubs participated in this top European competition. Despite a Spanish duo at the top, the most represented country is England with 7 clubs in the top 20: Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Aston Villa.
Everyone remembers this year 2010 marked by the historic treble achieved last season by Inter Milan (Italian Championship, Italian Cup, Champions League)! Yet, it didn’t allow them to gain any places in the ranking. The Italian club remains 9th but still records a significant increase in its revenues (+14%), allowing it to reach a total revenue of 224.8 million euros. Among the top 10 clubs in this ranking, Inter is the only club, with its rival AC Milan, that does not own its stadium and thus cannot fully exploit this fundamental resource to generate more significant “matchday” (ticketing and hospitality) and commercial (sponsorship) revenues.
By maintaining high-level sports performances, which will allow them to keep their TV rights revenues, and acquiring their stadium, Inter Milan holds one of the best margins for improvement to stabilize sustainably and climb in this ranking. The Italian champion structurally contrasts with Bayern Munich, which draws 74% of its total revenue from “matchday” and commercial revenues thanks to the exploitation of its new stadium, the Allianz Arena. Other German clubs also have a profile similar to the German champion. This situation is explained by the construction and renovation of a significant part of the German structures for the penultimate 2006 World Cup.
France is represented twice in this top 20 of the richest clubs in the world thanks to Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille, respectively ranked one place less than last year, in the 14th and 15th place with a total revenue of 146.1 and 141.1 million euros.
Olympique de Marseille is experiencing a constant, though modest, increase in its revenue over the past five years, mainly due to very interesting and significantly improving sports results.
Olympique Lyonnais remains below its best year in 2008 when it achieved a revenue of 156 million euros and had one of the best seasons in its history with a Championship/Coupe de France double as well as elimination in the Champions League round of 16 against Manchester United.
Both French clubs present a similar profile in terms of their revenue distribution. They remain dependent on TV rights at 54% for OL and 50% for OM and lag behind in ticketing revenues compared to their European counterparts with less than 20%. Note that these are expected to increase significantly with the OL Land project for the Rhone club (if realized by Euro 2016) and with the renovation/extension of the current Stade Vélodrome for OM.
Finally, it is worth noting that Real Madrid (30%, 36%, 34%) and Manchester United (35%, 37%, 28%) are examples in terms of their revenue distribution: matchday, TV rights, and commercial. Indeed, it is largely preferable for clubs to have the most balanced possible distribution of their three revenue sources to diversify risk and reduce the potential impact of uncontrollable factors such as… sports performances and their repercussions on the significant TV rights revenues.
