ManU Remains Atop Forbes’ Soccer List; Ronaldinho Top Earner
Manchester United was valued as the world’s richest soccer club at $1.5B, according
to FORBES, seeing its value increase 6% from a year ago. Real Madrid remained
second at $1.0B, while Arsenal moved into third place, seeing the club’s value
increase 9% to $915M. Juventus, which was relegated to Serie B in Italy after
a match-fixing scandal last year, saw the biggest drop in value, down 18% from
a year ago. On the player side, earnings (salary plus endorsements) for the ten
best-paid soccer players rose 20% last year. Ronaldinho became the top earner
at $29.5M, knocking Real Madrid MF David Beckham from the top of the list for
the first time since ’04. Beckham came in second at $29.1M (FORBES, 4/16 issue).
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FORBES' SOCCER TEAM VALUATIONS
|
|
RK
|
TEAM
|
NATION
|
CURRENT VAL. ($M)^
|
% +/-
|
REVENUES ($M)
|
OPER. INCOME ($M)^^
|
|
1
|
ManU
|
England
|
$1,453
|
6%
|
$310
|
$92
|
|
2
|
Real Madrid
|
Spain
|
$1,036
|
2%
|
$374
|
$83
|
|
3
|
Arsenal
|
England
|
$915
|
9%
|
$246
|
$20
|
|
4
|
Bayern Munich
|
Germany
|
$838
|
9%
|
$262
|
$62
|
|
5
|
AC Milan
|
Italy
|
$824
|
-10%
|
$305
|
$46
|
|
6
|
Juventus
|
Italy
|
$567
|
-18%
|
$321
|
$45
|
|
7
|
Inter Milan
|
Italy
|
$555
|
10%
|
$264
|
$26
|
|
8
|
Chelsea
|
England
|
$537
|
6%
|
$283
|
-$37
|
|
9
|
Barcelona
|
Spain
|
$535
|
22%
|
$331
|
$12
|
|
10
|
Schalke 04
|
Germany
|
$471
|
45%
|
$157
|
$37
|
|
11
|
Liverpool
|
England
|
$454
|
28%
|
$225
|
$37
|
|
12
|
Olympique Lyonnais
|
France
|
$343
|
65%
|
$163
|
$10
|
|
13
|
Newcastle
|
England
|
$260
|
-14%
|
$159
|
$11
|
|
14
|
Tottenham
|
England
|
$243
|
27%
|
$137
|
$9
|
|
15
|
AS Roma
|
Italy
|
$224
|
-15%
|
$162
|
$53
|
|
16
|
Hamburg SV
|
Germany
|
$221
|
NA
|
$130
|
$31
|
|
17
|
Manchester City
|
England
|
$208
|
-6%
|
$114
|
$9
|
|
18
|
Dortmund
|
Germany
|
$199
|
61%
|
$114
|
$1
|
|
19
|
Ajax
|
Holland |
$196
|
13%
|
$95
|
$9
|
|
20
|
Celtic
|
Scotland
|
$185
|
18%
|
$106
|
$7
|
|
21
|
Everton
|
England
|
$165
|
34%
|
$107
|
-$15
|
|
22
|
Olympique Marseille
|
France
|
$157
|
NA
|
$105
|
$6
|
|
23
|
West Ham
|
England
|
$156
|
NA
|
$111
|
$6
|
|
24
|
Rangers
|
Scotland
|
$147
|
32%
|
$113
|
$12
|
|
25
|
Aston Villa
|
England
|
$140
|
16%
|
$91
|
-$21
|
|
WORLD'S TOP EARNERS IN SOCCER FOR '06
|
|
RANK
|
PLAYER
|
CLUB
|
NATIONAL TEAM
|
EARNINGS ($M)
|
|
1
|
Ronaldinho
|
Barcelona
|
Brazil
|
$29.5
|
|
2
|
David Beckham
|
Real Madrid
|
England
|
$29.1
|
|
3
|
Ronaldo
|
AC Milan
|
Brazil
|
$23.4
|
|
4
|
Wayne Rooney
|
ManU
|
England
|
$17.2
|
|
5
|
Michael Ballack
|
Chelsea
|
Germany
|
$16.8
|
|
6
|
Thierry Henry
|
Arsenal
|
France
|
$15.8
|
|
7
|
Zinedine Zidane
|
Real Madrid
|
France
|
$15.6
|
|
8
|
Fabio Cannavaro
|
Real Madrid
|
Italy
|
$14.6
|
|
9
|
John Terry
|
Chelsea
|
England
|
$14.3
|
|
10
|
Steven Gerrard
|
Liverpool
|
England
|
$14.2
|
NOTES: Revenues and operating income are for the ’05-06 season and converted
into U.S. dollars based on June 30, 2006, exchange rates. NA = Not available.
^ = Estimates are based on past transactions, enterprise values (market value
plus debt) of publicly-traded teams and current stadium deal (unless a new stadium
is pending). ^^ = Operating income is EBITDA.
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