Madrid tops football money list, Galatasaray closer to breaking in

ISTANBUL

Galatasaray’s Burak Yılmaz scores against Manchester United on Nov 20, 2012, during a UEFA Champions League group match at the Türk Telekom Arena in Istanbul. AFP photo

Real Madrid has become the first club in any sport to generate more than 500 million euros in revenue in a single year, while Galatasaray comes closer to making it to European football’s top money-making list, according to the business advisory firm Deloitte.

The company’s Football Money League, published for the 16th time yesterday, sees Spanish champions Madrid retain its hold on first place ahead of perennial rival Barcelona. In an unchanged top six, Manchester United remains third, Bayern Munich fourth, European champion Chelsea fifth and Arsenal sixth, with Manchester City soaring five places to seventh. AC Milan falls one place to eighth, with Liverpool remaining ninth and Italian champions Juventus rising three places to complete the top 10.

There are no Turkish teams in the top 20, but Spor Toto Super League champion Galatasaray has been added to the secondary list, which is comprised of 10 teams that could make it to the Top 20 in the future.

With a total 95.1 million euros generated last season, Galatasaray was ninth on the additional list of clubs immediately below the Money League Top 20.

Fenerbahçe is the only Turkish team yet to make it to the Top 20 with its successful 2008 campaign, and Deloitte Turkey officials believe that a Turkish team may be in the Top 20 soon.

“It is highly possible that one or two Turkish teams might be in the Top 20,” Özgür Yalta said in a statement released by Deloitte Turkey. “But in order to make it to the Top 10, the Turkish league should be a competition followed closely on an international level and should have a huge leap in incomes.”
Madrid’s revenue rose by seven percent to 512.6 million euros in the 2011-2012 season, enabling the nine-time European champions to hold on to the top spot in the ranking for an eighth successive year, matching United’s record from 1996-1997 to 2003-2004.

“It is an impressive achievement for Real Madrid to have surpassed 500 million euros in revenue in a single year,” said Dan Jones from Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.

“Real have led the way in the phenomenal rate of revenue growth achieved by the game’s top clubs, with the double-digit (10 percent) increase by the top 20 clubs representing continued strong performance in these tough economic times. The combined revenues of the top 20 clubs have quadrupled since we began our analysis in 1996-1997.”

Madrid triumphed in the Spanish Liga in 2011-2012, ending three years of dominance by arch-rivals Barcelona, but lost out in the Champions League after being beaten by Bayern in the semi-finals.

Overall, the combined revenue of the world’s 20 highest-earning football clubs grew by 10 percent on the previous year to reach 4.8 billion euros.

City’s climb of five places was matched by German champions Borussia Dortmund, who rose to 11, and Italian side Napoli at 15.

“Manchester City’s Premier League title-winning season, combined with participation in the UEFA Champions League, helped drive 51-percent revenue growth to 285.6 million euros, the largest absolute and relative growth of any Money League club,” said Deloitte’s Austin Houlihan.

“The club’s progress to the top of the English and European game means that they are set to remain a top 10 Money League club for the foreseeable future.” The only new entry on the list was English side Newcastle United, who moved into the top 20 at the expense of Spanish club Valencia after a surprise fifth-place finish in the Premier League last season. The English top flight remains the most well-represented league in the ranking, with seven of the 20 clubs hailing from the Premier League.