LONDON: Real Madrid have retained their position at the top of Deloitte’s annual Football Money League for an 11th consecutive year, with Spanish rivals Barcelona having overtaken Manchester United into second place.
Financial services company Deloitte said that Real’s club revenue was €577m ($629m) in 2014-15, boosted by a €22.7m increase in commercial sales. Match-day income also rose by €9.1m, although broadcast revenue slipped by €4.3m.
The combined revenue figure for the 20 clubs named in the Money League increased by eight per cent to €6.6bn.
Barcelona shifted up two places to second with revenue of €560.8m, with Manchester United slipping one place to third with €519.5 after a marginal rise of €1.5m. French Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain edged up one place to fourth with sales of €480.8m, with German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich falling two places to fifth with revenue of €474m.
The top 10 was completed by four Premier League clubs – Manchester City (€463.5m), Arsenal (€435.5m), Chelsea (€420m) and Liverpool (€391.8m) – and Italian Serie A club Juventus (€323.9m). Serie A club Roma in 16th place (€180.4m) and Premier League club West Ham United in 20th (€160.9m) were the two new entries in the table.
Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “For the first time, the top three clubs in the Football Money League have all passed the €500m revenue mark.
“Real Madrid once again delivered a strong financial performance, buoyed by growth in their commercial revenue. The planned redevelopment of the Santiago Bernabéu will help to continue the growth in match-day income in the coming years.
“Barcelona’s on-pitch achievements in the 2014-15 season have translated to financial success. The European champions have climbed to second place at the expense of Manchester United, with revenue growth across all areas of the business – match day, broadcast and commercial.”
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