Real Madrid and Barcelona are world football’s biggest money-makers for the second successive year as the combined revenues of Europe’s top 20 clubs exceeded €4-billion for the first time.
The annual review of football finance, by British accountancy firm Deloitte, showed that Madrid generated €438,6-million in the year to June 30 2010, representing an annual increase of 20% as the team retained top spot for the sixth straight year.
Barcelona, who beat Madrid to the Spanish title last year and won the Fifa Club World Cup, saw a more modest revenue increase of just less than 10% to €398,1-million.
The Spanish rivals’ supremacy is helped by the uneven distribution of broadcasting rights from domestic competitions.
The top six teams remained unchanged from the 2010 rankings, with Real Madrid and Barcelona followed by Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Biggest mover
The biggest mover in the top 20 was Manchester City, as the Premier League’s wealthiest team climbed nine places to 11th with a 44% revenue increase to a club record €153-million.
Premier League rivals Liverpool fell one place to eighth after dropping out of the Champions League places and finishing seventh last season.
“All bar three of the top 20 clubs achieved revenue growth during 2009/10, demonstrating the continued resilience of football’s top clubs as the full impact of the global economic downturn took hold,” said Dan Jones of the Deloitte sports business group. “The game’s top clubs have proved themselves well-placed to meet these economic challenges given their large and loyal supporter bases, ability to drive broadcast audiences, and continuing attraction to corporate partners.”
The combined income generated by the top-20 clubs rose to €4,3-billion — up 8% on the previous year. Deloitte said that 44% of that total — €1,9-billion — comes from the sale of broadcast rights.
Fourteen of the top 20 clubs participated in the Champions League and the remainder competed in the Europa League. — Sapa-AP