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| Barca have overtaken Real to top the Deloitte Football Money League for the first time |
Barcelona have overtaken Real Madrid to top the Deloitte Football Money League for the first time and become the first club to break the 800 million euros revenue barrier.
The 23rd edition of the table shows an 11% rise in combined revenues, excluding transfer fees, for the top 20 clubs who between them enjoyed turnovers of a record 9.3 billion euros for the 2018-19 season.
Real Madrid have dropped to second, generating income of 757.3 million euros, while Manchester United remain third.
Arsenal have slipped out of the top 10 or the first time.
Barcelonaโs rise to the top with income of 840 million euros is a clear sign of โa club adapting to changing market conditionsโ by bringing merchandising and licensing activities in-house, according to Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.
โBarca have reduced the reliance on broadcast revenue and focussing on growing revenues within itโs control,โ he said.
โWith the club expecting further growth of 30 million euros in commercial revenues and total revenue of almost 880 million in 2019-20 we expect them to retain the top spot next year.
โBarca are on course to achieve its stated ambition to be the first one billion Money League club in years to come.โ
Bayern Munich remain in fourth position with Paris St Germain entering the top five ahead of Manchester City.
Champions League winners Liverpool are seventh, one place ahead of Tottenham Hotspur who they beat in the final.
Tottenhamโs 521.1 million euros income pushes them ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal, making them the capitalโs highest revenue generating club for the first time since 1996-97.
Once again the Premier Leagueโs eye-watering television broadcast deals have enables it to dominate the Money League with eight clubs inside the top 20.
Spainโs La Liga has three and the Bundesliga have three while Serie A has four but Juventus are the highest-placed in 10th. Napoli have moved into the top 20.
Juventusโ revenue increased 17% to 459.7 million euros, helped by the arrival of talismanic Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Apart from PSG, only Olympique Lyonnais of Franceโs Ligue 1 are on the list.
While Jones says revenue growth in Europeโs big soccer leagues continues to outpace other sectors, mainly because of broadcasting rights, there is a marked concentration of increase at the top with the combined revenue of the top five clubs more than the combined total of the clubs ranked 10th to 20th.
โWhat is notable in this edition of the Money League is the apparent continuing emergence of โmini-leagues within the Money Leagueโ,โ he said. โThe largest revenue-generating clubs continue to pull away from the rest.โ
The highest-ranked club outside the big five leagues is Ajax Amsterdam in 23rd place.
REUTERS
