By David Owen
January 24 – Real Madrid has achieved a new landmark by becoming the first club in any sport to generate more than €500 million of revenue in a single year, according to the latest edition of the Football Money League compiled by Deloitte, the business advisory firm.
The disappearance of Valencia, however, leaves Real and second-placed Barcelona as the only Spanish inclusions on the 20-club list – underlining the all but unbridgeable gulf between the big two and their La Liga rivals.
Four of the next five places on the Deloitte list are taken by Premier League clubs, with English champions Manchester City surging powerfully from 12th to seventh in the table.
Despite initial appearances to the contrary, the figures suggest that the recessionary conditions prevailing in much of western Europe in recent times have taken their toll on those at the pinnacle of the continent’s biggest sport.
Measured in euros, combined revenues of Europe’s top 20 clubs climbed a more than satisfactory 10% to €4.8 billion.
However, this is accounted for largely by a significant appreciation in the value of sterling – home currency for seven of the 20 clubs in the table – against the euro.
The conversion rate for the new list was €1.236 to the pound, compared with €1.107 a year earlier.
Measured in sterling, a very different picture emerges, with year-on-year revenues for the 20 clubs on the latest list actually falling from £3.96 billion to £3.92 billion.
Indeed, when all figures are expressed in pounds rather than euros, revenues at eleven of the 20 clubs – more than half – declined last season from 2010/11 levels.
Newcastle were rewarded for their conspicuously successful English Premier League season by replacing Valencia in Deloitte’s latest list.
Both Borussia Dortmund of Germany and Italy’s Napoli replicated Manchester City’s feat in climbing five places.
Internazionale and AS Roma of Italy and Germany’s Schalke 04 each fell four places.
The table comprises seven English clubs, five Italian, four German and two each from France and Spain.
The top ten were:
1. Real Madrid – €512.6 million
2. Barcelona – €483 million
3. Manchester United – €395.9 million
4. Bayern Munich – €368.4 million
5. Chelsea – €322.6 million
6. Arsenal – €290.3 million
7. Manchester City – €285.6 million
8. AC Milan – €256.9 million
9. Liverpool – €233.2 million
10. Juventus – €195.4 million
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