Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe make it to European football’s money list

ISTANBUL

Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe had remarkably successful runs in the European competitions last season. The two teams are the only Top 20 clubs hailing outside Europe’s top five leagues: Spain, England, Germany, France and Italy. DHA Photo

Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe have been included on the list of football’s biggest moneymakers, marking the first time that two Turkish clubs have made it to the top 20.

Turkish football’s two giants are named in the 2013 edition of the Football Money League compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are football’s biggest moneymakers for the fifth straight year with 518.9 million and 482.6 million euro revenues respectively.

Galatasaray, who made the list for the first time in 2012, has generated revenues of 157 million euros and jumped three spots, rising to 16th place.

Fenerbahçe, which was named 19th in the 2010 edition for its debut appearance, returned to the list this year in the 18th spot.

Galatasaray’s revenues are worth 157 million, while Fenergenerated 126.4 million euros.

Galatasaray’s revenues were constituted by 69.7 million worth of commercial deals, 51.9 million from broadcasting contracts and 35.4 million euro came from matchday income.

Fenerbahçe topped 55.7 million from commercial deals, 43 million from broadcasting and 27.7 million from matchday income.

The financial success came following a season when both teams have enjoyed remarkable success on the European stage. Galatasaray has advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals in a season where it has lured international superstars such as Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba, while Fenerbahçe has made it to the Europa League semifinals last year.

Two-time defending champion Galatasaray is currently eight points behind leader Fenerbahçe in the Turkish league currently. Fenerbahçe, however, is facing match-fixing troubles, since a Turkish top court upheld the court sentences its officials, including its chairman, for attempting to manipulate the 2010-2011 championship games. This season, Fenerbahçe is serving the first of its two-year ban of playing in European competitions.

United upset

The biggest upset was that Manchester United lost its place among the top three biggest-earning clubs for the first time.

United, which is enduring a lackluster season under new manager David Moyes, dropped to fourth behind European champion Bayern Munich

The biggest growth in 2012-13 was at Paris Saint-Germain, which leapt from 10th to 5th as the club’s global profile was enhanced by David Beckham’s four-month spell in the championship-winning team.

“Real Madrid remain firmly at the top of the Money League, even though the club experienced a trophyless end to the 2012-13 season,” said Dan Jones, a partner in the Deloitte sports business group. “Despite tough economic conditions, particularly within Spain, the club’s ability to generate substantial commercial revenue both domestically and internationally is central to their success.”

In Germany, Bayern’s income leapt 17 percent to 431.2 million euros as the German club won the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup.

United’s growth was slower - 13 percent to 363.2 million pounds - as the team collected the Premier League title before manager Alex Ferguson retired in May.

“It is the first time Manchester United have dropped out of the top three but Bayern had an exceptional year,” Jones said.

An additional report from AFP was used in this story.