MANCHESTER United have jumped back up football’s rich list and are now the second highest earning club in the world behind Real Madrid.
The Deloitte Money League 2015, published on Thursday, reports that the revenues of the 20 richest clubs in the world reached +6.79 billion in the 2013-14 season, up +873 million on the previous year.
Champions League winners Real Madrid top the list for the 10th year in a row, but the Premier League continues to consolidate its position as the dominant financial force in world football, with eight clubs in the top 20 as broadcast money boosted English teams’ revenues.
Despite a dreadful campaign on the pitch last season, United jumped two places up the list as they become the second highest earning football club in the world with revenues of +565 million.
“Despite a poor on-pitch season in 2013-14, United’s commercial strategy of securing global and regional partners is delivering substantial growth,” said Austin Houlihan, Senior Manager at Deloitte.
“Their absence this season from European competition will be felt in next year’s Money League position, but if they can return to the Champions League in 2015-16 there is a strong possibility they could be top in two years’ time.”
Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all feature in the top 10 of the Money League while Tottenham are joined in the top 20 by newcomers Newcastle and Everton.
Real Madrid’s unprecedented 10th Champions League victory last term was matched by their financial performance, with revenue growth of six per cent to +599m.
Their great rivals Barcelona have dropped from second to fourth this year as their revenues fell to +528m in 2013-14, with German giants Bayern Munich staying second with a turnover of +531m.
After Paris Saint-Germain in fourth (+517m) come Premier League powerhouses Manchester City (+452m), Chelsea (+423.5m), Arsenal (+512.3) and Liverpool (+334m).
Tottenham sit in 12th with revenues of (+104.9m) while Newcastle (+169.4m) and Everton (+157.3m) join this year’s Money League in 19th and 20th place
Not only are there 10 Premier League clubs in the top 20, but strikingly all 20 English top flight clubs feature in the top 40 this year.
“The Premier League’s new broadcast deals have translated into big revenue increases across the English top flight,” Hoolihan added.
“In fact, every Premier League club reported record revenues in 2013/14. Between them, the eight English clubs in our top 20 achieved total broadcast revenues of +1.17bn. The fact that all the clubs in the Premier League are in the top 40 is testament to the huge appeal of the league globally and also the equality of the distributions the clubs enjoy relative to their European counterparts.
“Additionally, the Premier League is currently negotiating for the next cycle of media rights and further uplifts are anticipated.”
