By Mark Baber
June 9 – The annual study by Brand Finance ranking the world’s biggest football clubs by their “brand value” sees Manchester United, whose brand is said to be worth $1.2 bn, displace Bayern Munich from top spot. The list remains dominated by Premier League sides with six English clubs in the top ten.
The top 50 now only includes three non-European clubs (if one counts Fenerbahce) – with only SC Corinthians Paulista and Sao Paulo in the lower reaches of the list breaking the UEFA monopoly.
Despite Barcelona’s successes on the field of play, they have been pushed into 6th place on the list, overtaken for the first time by Man City and Chelsea, with Brand Finance explaining the Catalan club may have the strongest brand – but have failed to convert that strength into monetary value as “For a club’s brand to generate income a business team that is as star-studded and tactically brilliant as the team on the pitch is required. That is how to build brand value.”
Commenting on the list Brand Finance CEO David Haigh commented, “Manchester United’s success has been masterminded by Ed Woodward, the Ronaldo of football’s commercial sphere. As Sir Alex Ferguson developed United’s world-beating reputation, Woodward (and United’s owners the Glazers) capitalised on the brand’s growing power to establish a worldwide fan-base and a range of sponsorship deals unrivalled in their number and value.”
Despite a lack lustre season on the pitch, Manchester United have retaken the top spot due to their sponsorship deals with Chevrolet and Adidas as well as the new broadcasting deal which has seen all Premier League clubs, particularly West Ham and Southampton, record large increases in brand value.
Brand Finance calculate Brand Value using the Royalty Relief approach with the Brand Value being essentially the cost that a third party would have to pay to license the use of a brand. The analysis takes into account revenue mix, revenue growth, domestic/global honours, squad value, club heritage, UEFA coefficient ranking, average attendance and stadia utilisation amongst other factors.
Full list at: http://www.brandfinance.com/images/upload/brand_finance_football_50_2015_the_world_s_most_valuable_football_brands.pdf