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The company’s Football Money League, published for the 16th time yesterday, sees Spanish champions Madrid retain their hold on first place ahead of perennial rivals Barcelona.
In an unchanged top six, Manchester United remain third, Bayern Munich fourth, European champions Chelsea fifth and Arsenal sixth, but English champions Manchester City soar five places to seventh.
AC Milan fall one place to eighth, with Liverpool remaining ninth and Italian champions Juventus rising three places to complete the top 10.
Madrid’s revenue rose by seven percent to 512.6 million euros in the 2011-2012 season, equivalent to £414.7 million or US$644.7 million at June 2012 exchange rates.
It enabled the nine-time European champions to hold onto top spot in the ranking for an eighth successive year, matching United’s record from 1996-1997 to 2003-2004.
“It is an impressive achievement for Real Madrid to have surpassed 500 million euros in revenue in a single year,” said Dan Jones from Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.
“Real have led the way in the phenomenal rate of revenue growth achieved by the game’s top clubs, with the double-digit (10-percent) increase by the top 20 clubs representing continued strong performance in these tough economic times.
“The combined revenues of the top 20 clubs have quadrupled since we began our analysis in 1996-1997.”
Madrid triumphed in the Spanish Liga in 2011-2012, ending three years of dominance by arch-rivals Barcelona, but lost out in the Champions League after being beaten by Bayern in the semi-finals.
Overall, the combined revenue of the world’s 20 highest-earning football clubs grew by 10 percent on the previous year to reach 4.8 billion euros.
City’s climb of five places was matched by German champions Borussia Dortmund, who rose to 11th, and Italian side Napoli (15th).
“Manchester City’s English Premier League title-winning season, combined with participation in the Uefa Champions League, helped drive 51-percent revenue growth to 285.6 million euros, the largest absolute and relative growth of any Money League club,” said Deloitte’s Austin Houlihan.
“The club’s progress to the top of the English and European game means that they are set to remain a top 10 Money League club for the foreseeable future.”
The only new entry in the list was English side Newcastle United, who moved into the top 20 at the expense of Spanish club Valencia after a surprise fifth-place finish in the English Premier League last season.
The English top flight remains the most well-represented league in the ranking, with seven of the 20 clubs hailing from the Premier League.
Meanwhile, English Premier League giants Manchester United have dismissed suggestions that they have diluted their brand by announcing a glut of new sponsorship deals.
Just last week, United revealed they had signed agreements with Chinese firms Wahaha and China Construction Bank, as well a three-year partnership with Japanese paint manufacturer Kansai Paint.
A massive £357 million (US$565 million) shirt sponsorship deal with American car manufacturer Chevrolet is also due to begin next year.
The income from sponsors has helped the 19-time English champions establish themselves as one of the richest teams in world sport.
United were ranked third behind Real Madrid and Barcelona in the latest Deloitte Football Money League published yesterday, while their most recent annual results showed a 13.7 percent rise in commercial revenue to £117.6 million. According to United marketing manager Jonathan Rigby, such figures demonstrate that the club are not over-extending themselves by accumulating multiple sponsorship deals.
“There is nothing of what we know of our own brand that suggests that is the case,” he said.
“We don’t see that at all. We see an increase in growth in the vibrancy of our brand. In fact, we see the opposite. We see a fanbase that is growing, we see engagement levels growing, we see viewing figures continuing to grow.”
In fact, Rigby feels that United are yet to fulfil their full marketing potential.
“We don’t know how far we can go,” he said. “We certainly don’t think we are reaching a limit.
“It is a model that is working very well. The evidence I see every day is that our partners get a huge amount and are all able to get their own part of Manchester United.”
United have never finished lower than third in the table in the Premier League era, which has helped them to qualify for the lucrative Champions League season after season.
It has helped the club attract an estimated worldwide fanbase of 700 million, and Rigby believes those supporters would remain loyal even if the team’s fortunes were to dip.
“We will always strive to be right at the top of our game but we feel the love of our fans for the club goes deeper; into its history, the success and the players, both now and in the past,” he said. — AFP.
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