Real Madrid "is now the world’s most valuable sports franchise," worth $3.3B, surpassing former No. 1 ManU, according to Kurt Badenhausen of FORBES. Los Blancos "have the highest revenues of any team in sports" ($650M during the '11-12 season), and revenues are up 62% over the last three years. Madrid’s operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and player trading) of $134M "is second only to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys among sports teams." The revenue spigot is not "shutting off anytime soon." The club "extended its kit supply deal with adidas last year in a pact worth" $42M a year. ManU ranks second with a value of $3.17B. The club "launched an initial offering to the public in August and the stock is up 23% since then." Investors "are excited about soaring sponsorship revenues." The Red Devils signed a seven-year, $559M shirt sponsorship deal last year with Chevrolet. The club "has 32 official sponsors in total." Barcelona "completes a sweep of the top three" by European football clubs. The reigning La Liga champs are worth $2.6B on the strength of $613M in annual revenue. The MLB N.Y. Yankees "are the most valuable U.S. sports team, ranking fourth overall" at $2.3B (FORBES, 7/15).
SOCIAL MEDIA: FORBES' Badenhausen reported in a separate piece the NFL cannot touch football "when it comes to the global stage." Just "look at the social media followings of the two sports." The NFL's 30 most valuable teams "have 60 million Facebook fans and Twitter followers combined." Spanish club Barcelona "has 61 million all by itself" (FORBES, 7/15).
The World’s Top 10 Most Valuable Sports Teams
|
Team
|
2013
Rank
|
2012
Rank
|
Owner
|
Current Value
|
Social Media Followers
|
|
|
|
Real Madrid
|
1
|
2
|
Club Members
|
$3.3B
|
49.8 million
|
|
|
ManU
|
2
|
1
|
Glazer family
|
$3.17B
|
54.5 million
|
|
|
Barcelona
|
3
|
8
|
Club Members
|
$2.6B
|
60.6 million
|
|
|
N.Y. Yankees
|
4
|
3 (tie)
|
Steinbrenner Family
|
$2.3B
|
7.3 million
|
|
|
Dallas Cowboys
|
5
|
3 (tie)
|
Jerry Jones
|
$2.1B
|
6 million
|
|
|
New England Patriots
|
6
|
6 (tie)
|
Robert Kraft
|
$1.64B
|
4.7 million
|
|
|
L.A. Dodgers
|
7
|
6 (tie)
|
Guggenheim Baseball
|
$1.62B
|
1.7 million
|
|
|
Washington Redskins
|
8
|
5
|
Daniel Snyder
|
$1.6B
|
1.3 million
|
|
|
N.Y. Giants
|
9
|
9
|
John Mara, Steven Tisch
|
$1.47B
|
3.1 million
|
|
|
Arsenal
|
10
|
10
|
Stanley Kroenke
|
$1.33B
|
4.2 million
|
|
