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ManU may have "lost its place at the summit of the English Premier League in recent years, but it has returned to the top of the annual ranking of Europe’s richest football clubs for the first time in more than a decade," according to Murad Ahmed of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Deloitte’s annual “money league” report, which analyzes the accounts of the continent’s highest-earning clubs, revealed ManU achieved record revenues of €689M in the '15-16 season. The English club "supplanted Spain’s Real Madrid, which had led the rankings for the previous 11 seasons but has slipped to third place," behind Barcelona. The three clubs have "held the top three spots in the rankings in its 20-year history." Each "reaped" more than €600M ($638M) in revenues last season, the first year in which any club has surpassed that figure. Dan Jones, partner in Deloitte's sports business group, said, "Every year we get asked, 'Is the bubble bursting in football?' But we have always felt there has been room for growth. The real question is, how fast will that growth be? Twenty years ago it would have been hard to envisage clubs achieving €600 million in revenues. Now, we have clubs saying they want to achieve €1 billion ($1.06B) in revenues. I don’t think that’s an unrealistic goal." The rankings also emphasize the "growing financial might of English clubs compared with their continental rivals." Eight Premier League teams made the top 20, with Leicester City "joining the list for the first time after the club’s unlikely league title victory last season." All Premier League clubs have been "boosted" by a £5.1B ($6.3B) domestic broadcasting deal with Sky and BT Sport for the next three seasons (
FT, 1/18). REUTERS' Martyn Herman reported despite ManU's "woeful group stage exit" from the Champions League last season and a fifth-place finish in the Premier League under former Manager Louis van Gaal, commercial partners "continued to be drawn to Old Trafford like moths to a flame." Gulf Oil Int'l signed a three-year commercial partnership last season, "taking the total of company logos lurking down the bottom of the club's website homepage to 24." The club's kit deal with adidas, now in its second season, is worth £750M ($923M) and its "other partners include car firm Chevrolet and financial services giant Aon who sponsor the club's state-of-the-art training ground" (
REUTERS, 1/18).
COMMERCIAL RIVALS: In London, Martyn Ziegler wrote the latest rich list is "not entirely a story of English dominance." It also shows that Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and now Paris St. Germain "remain powerful commercial rivals." There are "also signs of growth in countries such as Turkey and Russia." The "threat of serious commercial competition from China appears limited" despite a number of high-profile players arriving for "huge sums." According to Deloitte, the turnover of the 16 teams in the Chinese Super League is "tiny by comparison" -- between £11M ($13.5M) and £45M ($55.4M). The £52M ($64M) paid to Chelsea for Oscar "was more than the turnover of the richest club in China alone" (LONDON TIMES, 1/19). In Madrid, Pablo Vande Rusten reported in '15-16, Real Madrid's revenue increased by 7% from the previous year, but "this was not enough to avoid a fall to third place on the list." It is Real Madrid's worst position on the list since '02-03. Barcelona's revenue in '15-16 was up 11% from the previous year. The strategy of Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez "has always been one of financial supremacy," but without being the richest team this year, Real Madrid "continues winning." The club is currently in first place in La Liga (EL PAÍS, 1/19).
European Club Revenue
|
| TEAM |
'15-16
Revenue
|
Previous
Year's Rank |
| ManU |
€689M
|
3 |
| Barcelona |
€620.2M |
2
|
| Real Madrid |
€620.1M |
1 |
| Bayern Munich |
€592M |
5 |
| Man City |
€524.9M |
6 |
Paris St. Germain
|
€520.9M |
4 |
| Arsenal |
€468.5M |
7 |
| Chelsea |
€447.4M |
8 |
| Liverpool |
€403.8M |
9 |
| Juventus |
€341.1M |
10 |
(Source: Deloitte)
BREXIT WOES: In London, Evan Bartlett wrote ManU's "glory could be short-lived." The latest version of the report released on Thursday "warns it will likely be replaced" by Real Madrid or Barcelona next year. Sterling has been "one of the world's worst performing currencies since Britain's decision to leave the EU last June." Although U.K. PM Theresa May's agenda-setting speech on Tuesday "helped the pound rally in the short-term, the uncertainty over Britain's future outside the EU has led many top economists to forecast that the currency will remain under pressure in the mid- to long-run." Deloitte believes that the new TV rights deal signed by Premier League clubs "will help to offset some of the effects of Brexit" (INDEPENDENT, 1/19).
CHINA SET FOR BREAKTHROUGH: In a separate piece, Bartlett reported Europe's "domination of football looks set to end with one of China's teams expected to break into the world's elite group of clubs" by '30. Those are the expectations of the Football Money League, which predicts a club from the CSL has the "highest chance" of becoming "one of the world's top revenue-earning clubs in the next decade or so." The report said, "Whilst European football dominates financially, and has done for the first 20 years of the Money League, the landscape may change considerably in the longer term, with attractive and emerging football markets looking to become the next football powerhouse." Of clubs outside Europe, only those in Brazil -- €7M-€84M ($7.4M-$89.4M) -- "are currently on a par with China's" -- €15M-€60M ($16M-$64M) -- in terms of revenue. Deloitte expects the "development and increased interest" in the CSL will provide the country's clubs with the "best chance of challenging Europe's hegemony" (INDEPENDENT, 1/19).
