Home Sports Real Madrid top the Football Money League with a turnover of $1 billion to widen the gap with Manchester City

Real Madrid top the Football Money League with a turnover of $1 billion to widen the gap with Manchester City

by trpliquidation
0 comment
Real Madrid top the Football Money League with a turnover of $1 billion to widen the gap with Manchester City

Real Madrid have opened up their biggest ever lead at the top of the football profit tree after a record turnover season in the Spanish capital, according to Deloitte’s annual Football Money League.

The Spanish and European champions took home $1.13 billion over the course of the 2023/24 season, with the completion of the renovation of the Santiago Bernabeu doubling matchday revenues to around a quarter of a billion dollars. With commercial revenues also increasing significantly, Madrid extended their profit lead over Manchester City to over $200 million. According to Theo Ajadi, deputy director at the Deloitte Sports Business Group, it is the largest gap between first and second place in the almost thirty-year history of the Money League.

Paris Saint-Germain remains in third place, while Manchester United and Bayern Munich have leapfrogged Barcelona into the top five. In a sign of the entrenchment of wealth among European football’s elite, the composition of the top 10 remains unchanged, although a season of Champions League football and improved commercial revenues were enough to lift Arsenal above the rest of the ‘Big League’ Push. Six” from Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea, in that order. Borussia Dortmund is the only other football club with a profit of more than half a billion dollars.

Deloitte Football Money League

1 (1)

Real Madrid

$1.1 billion

+26%

2 (2)

Manchester city

$906.1 million

+1%

3 (3)

Paris Saint Germain

$871.6 million

+1%

4 (5)

Manchester United

$833.5 million

+3%

5 (6)

Bayern Munich

$827.8 million

+3%

6 (4)

Barcelona

$822.3 million

-5%

7 (10)

Arsenal

$775 million

+35%

8 (7)

Liverpool

$773 million

+5%

9 (8)

Tottenham Hotspur

$665.2 million

-3%

10 (9)

Chelsea

$590 million

-7%

They will still have a long way to go to catch Madrid, who became the first ever European football club to reach a billion euros in revenues when they published their financial report for the 2023-2024 season in July. Barcelona had previously crossed the billion dollar mark in the 2017/2018 season, but no club had ever reached that number in euros. It is believed that the Dallas Cowboys are the only sports team to have achieved higher revenues than Madrid.

“Clubs have been aiming for a billion euros in revenue for some time, even before the corona crisis,” said Ajadi. “In terms of how that has been achieved, you have long-term licenses for matchday pitches, which has contributed significantly to that, and also for retail.

“It really reflects the brand that Madrid has and their ability to leverage that. They did that with great success this year.

“It is by some distance the largest gap between first and second place in the history of the Money League. It would take quite a jump from second to fifth, even if you ignore licensing. There is still quite a large gap that needs to be closed. considerable.”

The Taylor Swift Effect

Madrid’s revenue success reflects the growing trend of football clubs using their stadiums as year-round facilities for more than 25 home games per season. The renovation work at the Bernabeu did not reduce its capacity to 125,000 visitors in the 1950s and 1960s, but instead focused on providing more VIP bars, premium seating and restaurants for the 80,000 visitors.

Twenty-four hours before Madrid lifted their 16th European Cup, Taylor Swift ended the second night of her Eras Tour at the Bernabeu, the two shows estimated by Spanish media to be worth just under $10 million to the La Liga champions . With the Miami Dolphins hosting Madrid’s first NFL regular season later this year and more concerts in the books, football revenue appears crucial to keeping Los Merengues in the ten-figure revenue range.

“Club stadiums are increasingly being valued as more than just matchday venues, with a number of clubs converting their grounds into multi-use entertainment venues that attract new visitors, sponsors and retail opportunities,” said Tim Bridge, principal partner of Deloitte Sports Business Group. “Football clubs are now realizing the value of becoming much more than sports brands, with media and entertainment becoming intertwined with the commercial potential they have to offer.”

Madrid weren’t the only team to benefit from the Swift effect. In a season where they swapped lucrative Champions League football for the Europa League, Liverpool still managed to increase their revenue by 5%. Three nights of the Eras Tour undoubtedly helped.

Women’s team helps Arsenal’s rise

Concerts are not the only way to get through the turnstiles of top stadiums. Arsenal’s leap over three of their rivals is mainly due to higher broadcast revenue from their Champions League deal and new commercial deals, including with long-term sponsor Emirates. However, what would have made the $2 million difference between them and Liverpool is the revenue generated by the women’s team.

At $19.4 million – a figure surpassed only by Barcelona and by slim margins – the women’s team becomes a source of income for Arsenal. In 2023–24, the Gunners played six WSL matches at the Emirates Stadium, breaking the league’s attendance record three times and achieving an average attendance of 30,005, 93% higher than 12 months earlier. Taking into account only the Emirates attendance and a crowd of 52,029 people, this would make it the eighth highest attendance among Premier League clubs.

The momentum has not diminished in the new campaign. With three and a half weeks to go until February 16, more than 40,000 tickets have been sold for the north London derby against Tottenham, sources told CBS Sports.

“While it is a relatively small portion of revenue now, as these properties grow it will have a more material impact and potentially attract new fans,” Ajadi said. “That has had a huge impact for Arsenal. If you can get 60,000 people to the Emirates more often, that will be very important. Customers we serve are really looking more at women’s football.”

“It’s not just Arsenal. A lot of Championship and League One teams are organizing more games there. It will be a lot of work for the pitch staff, that’s for sure!”

Can Barcelona close the gap with Madrid?

Meanwhile, the table is instinctively grim for Barcelona, ​​which falls out of the top five for the second time in three years and needs to make up for its biggest rivals with around $300 million in revenue. There is also some hope now that renovation work at Camp Nou is imminent, due to the host matches before the end of this season. Their time at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic has not been good for Barcelona’s fans and finances, as matchday revenues amount to some $110 million, significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels, let alone the almost two and a half times that Madrid earns.

While the levers used by president Joan Laporta to finance transfers in the summer of 2022 threaten to limit the ceiling of Barcelona’s long-term earnings potential, their new stadium could well pull them back to the top of the standings.

You may also like

logo

Stay informed with our comprehensive general news site, covering breaking news, politics, entertainment, technology, and more. Get timely updates, in-depth analysis, and insightful articles to keep you engaged and knowledgeable about the world’s latest events.

Subscribe

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

© 2024 – All Right Reserved.