January 22 – Real Madrid have set a new world revenue record, becoming the first football club in history to pass the €1 billion mark in operating revenue for the 2023/24.
The figures come from annual report produced by the Football Benchmark team that analyses the business performance of domestic title-winners from six European leagues – FC Internazionale Milano, Manchester City FC, Paris Saint-Germain FC, PSV Eindhoven, Real Madrid CF and Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Real Madrid generated more than €200 million of revenue than second ranked Manchester City (€835 million) and third-ranked PSG €806 million).
The disparity of revenue between Real Madrid and their domestic competitors is stark. Celta Vigo are ranked 25th. almost a full €1 billion behind Real, with revenue of €75 million. The table only includes clubs whose financial results were available in December 2024.
Real Madrid showed year-on-year growth of 28% in operating revenues, driven primarily by record-breaking matchday income of €251m, boosted by their now fully open state-of-the-art stadium. PSV Eindhoven led in percentage growth, achieving a remarkable 51% increase, primarily because they reached the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League last season. By contrast, Sporting Clube de Portugal saw a 14% decline in operating revenues, which can be attributed to weaker international performance.
Inter Milan ranked fourth highest in the table at €399 million, €40 million ahead of rivals Juventus.
Four of the six clubs saw their staff costs increase, point out Football Benchmark, with Manchester City being a notable exception, slightly reducing their personnel expenses.
Paris Saint-Germain FC led in total staff costs (€668 million), followed by Real Madrid (€505 million) and Manchester City (€480 million).
PSG and Inter Milan are the only two champion clubs who recorded a net loss, with -€60m and -€36m, respectively. “However, these losses are far from those suffered by other European clubs, such as Juventus FC (-€199m), Manchester United (-€132m) and FC Barcelona (-€91m),” notes the report.
Man City led on the positive side with a net profit of €86m, their fourth consecutive year of profit.
Real Madrid CF led the squad market value ranking at €1.364 billion. All champion clubs had the highest squad values in their domestic leagues.
This year the report for the first time analysed youth talent development, looking at the number of academy graduates in the 2024/25 first team, revenue from academy player sales between 2019/20 and 2024/25 and the percentage of minutes played by Under-21 players from April 2023 to March 2024.
Real Madrid CF and PSV Eindhoven stand out as the top-performing champions.
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