Sport | Football
Real Madrid, Barcelona top list of rich clubs
Manchester United are again in third place with €367m, the highest of four English clubs in the top 10 earners
- AP
- Published: 00:00 February 10, 2012
London: Real Madrid and Barcelona are football's biggest moneymakers for the third straight year and look set to out-earn their rivals for the foreseeable future.
The annual review of football finance by Deloitte shows Madrid topping the list for the seventh straight year with revenue of €479.5 million (Dh2.334 billion) to the year ending June 30 — an increase of 9 per cent on the previous 12 months.
English champion Manchester United were again in third place with €367m, the highest of four English clubs in the top 10 earners. Bayern Munich were fourth with €321.4m, with Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Liverpool and Schalke next.
One more year at the top for Madrid would equal United's No. 1 streak from 1997-2004, but the accountancy firm says on-field success could yet push Barcelona into first place next year.
Increase in revenue
Barcelona trail Madrid by seven points in the Spanish league, but its revenue increased 13 per cent to €451 million euros and it could rise further if the team retains the Champions League title.
Defending Spanish and European champions Barcelona receives about €30m per season in a sponsorship deal from the Qatar Foundation and earned €51m from the Champions League, beating United 3-1 in last season's final at Wembley Stadium.
They can already count on €3.5m towards next year's total after winning Fifa's Club World Cup in December.
"This may allow it to narrow, or even bridge, the gap to Real," Deloitte sports business group partner Dan Jones said. "However, relative on-pitch performance, particularly in the Champions League, may determine next year's top two Money League placings.
Remarkable feat
"Both clubs are closing in on revenues of 500m euros and are likely to pass this threshold within the next few years. Each club's annual revenues have grown by almost 200m euros compared with five years before — a remarkable achievement."
Top ten
Deloitte Money League top 10 (last year's position in brackets)
1 (1) Real Madrid 479.5m euros (438.6m last year)
2 (2) Barcelona 450.7m (398.1m)
3 (3) Manchester United 367.0m (349.8m)
4 (4) Bayern Munich 321.4m (323m)
5 (5) Arsenal 251.1m (274.1m)
6 (6) Chelsea 249.8m (255.9m)
7 (7) AC Milan 235.1m (244m)
8 (9) Inter Milan 211.4m (224.8m)
9 (8) Liverpool 203.3m (225.3m)
10 (16) Schalke 04 202.4m (139.8m).
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