By David Owen
May 26 – Manchester United’s annus horribilis has pushed them down to third place in a listing of the 50 most valuable football club brands drawn up by Brand Finance, the brand valuation and strategy consultancy. United have swapped places with Real Madrid, the newly-crowned European champions, having seen almost $100 million wiped off their brand value since 2013, according to Brand Finance’s assessment.
Germany’s biggest club, Bayern Munich, has extended its lead at the top of the table, in spite of losing its European crown. Its brand value of $896 million now puts it well over $100 million ahead of Madrid.
The aggregate brand value of all 50 clubs, from Bayern at the top to Fulham in 50th spot, has now exceeded $10 billion – up $1.58 billion from a year ago, partly owing to currency fluctuations.
The biggest jump was achieved by Paris Saint-Germain, whose brand value leapt $238 million to $324 million, enough to secure 10th place.
Manchester City, another club to have benefited from transformational Middle East investment, advanced $178 million to $510 million. Real Madrid has the third-biggest increase, by $147 million to $768 million.
Of the clubs whose brand value was deemed to have fallen, Manchester United dipped the most, followed by AC Milan and relegated Fulham.
A big gap has opened up between the top eight and the rest. The top 10, according to Brand Finance’s figures, are as follows:
1. Bayern Munich $896m
2. Real Madrid $768m
3. Manchester United $739m
4. Barcelona $622m
5. Manchester City $510m
6. Arsenal $505m
7. Chelsea $502m
8. Liverpool $469m
9. Borussia Dortmund $327m
10. Paris Saint-Germain $324m
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