Real Madrid crowned as
world's richest club for
eighth year in a row
Top-six placings remain
unchanged
Clubs from five different
countries in top 20
Manchester City, Borussia
Dortmund & Napoli climb
most places - five
EPL has most representatives
Italy continue to struggle
Combined revenues grow 10 per cent
Real Madrid and Barcelona once more
dominate football’s rich list as the Spanish duo
are still miles ahead of their rivals from
England, Germany, Italy and France. According
to the 2012 Deloitte Football Money League,
published on Thursday, the Liga giants remain
the only clubs with annual revenue over €450
million.
Real Madrid top the Football Money League for
the eighth year in succession, thus equalling
Manchester United’s dominance in the top
position during the first eight years of the
Money League, and became the first club in
any sport to surpass the €500m revenue
threshold in a single year.
"It is an impressive achievement for Real
Madrid to have surpassed €500m in revenue
in a single year. Real have led the way in the
phenomenal rate of revenue growth achieved
by the game’s top clubs," Dan Jones, Partner in
the Sports Business Group at Deloitte said.
However, the reigning Spanish champions are
being chased hard by arch-rivals Barcelona,
whose growth in 2011-12 leaves them only
€17m short of the €500m mark. Even though
the Catalans couldn’t quite match their on-
pitch success from 2010-11, the club enjoyed
€32.3m (seven per cent) revenue growth.
United’s failure to qualify for the knockout
stages of the Champions League in 2011-12
meant they were unable to prevent a Spanish
one-two for the fourth successive year, but Sir
Alex Ferguson's side remain the proud
number three in the rankings.
For the fifth successive year, the clubs
comprising the top six places in the Money
League remain the same.
"An unchanged top six emphasises the fact
that these clubs have some of the largest
fanbases and hence strongest revenues, in
both domestic and international markets,"
Jones commented.
The Money League top 20 again comprises
clubs from the ‘big five’ European leagues,
seven of which come from the English Premier
League, while Italy have five teams in the top
20, and Germany four. Spain and France,
meanwhile, have to settle for two
representatives each.
"It’s always interesting to see the disparity
between the top two in Spain and the rest of
the league. There are no other Spanish clubs
in the top 20. A key change that would
improve the overall state of finances in
Spanish football would be a collective
broadcast deal. It sounds like the Spanish
government have put collective payments on
the agenda on that level which, if it happens,
can only help with the competitiveness of the
division," Mark Roberts, Senior Consultant
within the Sports Business Group at Deloitte,
stated.
The top 10 consists of teams from only four
leagues, as Ligue 1 sides Olympique de
Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais sit only 16th
and 17th respectively.
Manchester City (seventh) are this year’s joint
highest climbers, along with Borussia
Dortmund (11th) and Napoli (15th), moving
up five places and claiming a top 10 position
for the first time.
"City’s Premier League title winning season
combined with participation in the Champions
League, helped drive 51% revenue growth to
€285.6m, the largest absolute and relative
growth of any Money League club," Austin
Houlihan, Senior Manager in the Sports
Business Group at Deloitte, said.
As pointed out before, the English Premier
League has the most representatives, and this
situation seems unlikely to change any time
soon.
"The Premier League still has the most
representatives in the top 20 of the list. Clubs
will get another €20-30m from the new
broadcasting deal so in the future there will
be more English clubs challenging for those
positions. The most there has been in the list
is eight but I think we could be seeing as
much of half of the list represented by the
Premier League," Roberts pointed out.
Italy's future on the other hand seems far less
rosy as their facilities generally don't match
their reputation.
"The poor financial performance of Italian
clubs goes back to their matchday revenues.
Juventus have benefitted from their new
stadium, which increased their matchday
income by about €20m. For the Milan clubs
and the Rome clubs, the stadia is a limiting
factor on their revenue generation. They
simply don’t have the facilities and don’t get
the gates to compete with matchday incomes
in other countries. Italy has gone to collective
selling of broadcasting and that is a positive
start in improving that," said Roberts.
The combined revenues of the world’s 20
highest earning football clubs have grown
10% on the previous year to reach €4.8bn in
2011-12.
"The combined revenues of the top 20 clubs
have quadrupled since we began our analysis
in 1996-97," Jones explained.
“Whilst eight of the top 20 clubs experienced
a drop in revenue in 2011-12, in most cases
this was due to less successful on-pitch
performances in European club competitions,
rather than wider recessionary impacts.
"Combined, the 20 Money League clubs
contribute over one-quarter of the total
revenues of the European football market.
The top 20 can be expected to generate over
€5bn between them in 2012-13."
Commenting on the impact of Uefa’s financial
fair play break-even requirement, Paul
Rawnsley, a Director in the Sports Business
Group at Deloitte said:
"Whilst the Money League covers clubs’
revenue performance, there is an increasing
focus within European football on clubs
achieving more sustainable levels of
expenditure relative to revenues, particularly
given Uefa's financial fair play break-even
requirement.
"Disciplined and responsible governance
structures and financial management within
European football, whilst providing the
platform for investment in facilities and youth
development, should only be encouraged."
All revenue figures in the Money League
report are based on the 2011-12 season or
the most recent available calendar year.
It focuses on each club's revenues from day to
day football operations, including matchday
ticket and corporate hospitality sales,
broadcast rights revenues including
distributions from participation in European
club competitions, sponsorship,
merchandising, and other commercial
operations, but excluding transfer income.

so my chelsea is now above arsenal? by the time arsenal drops out of top 4 now, we will see how rich they will be.