Football Benchmark: First team in value in Europe and City by a margin

THE Manchester City is now the football club with the highest estimated business value reaching €4.073 billion.

England’s doubles, who are aiming for the treble in the Champions League final on Saturday night, moved up the rankings for the first time, leaving second Real Madrid, according to Football Benchmark’s annual study. The Madrid players, worth €4.006 billion, have topped the rankings for four consecutive years.

In third place is Manchester Unitedwhich fell one place compared to last year to third with €3.932 billion, despite being limited to only winning the League Cup and not claiming any other titles apart from the Cup, where they lost in the final to City.

At 51.7 billion euros the value of the top 32 European clubs

After two years of severe recession due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the total value of the top 32 clubs has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, reaching €51.7 billion. The operating income of the top 32 clubs rose by 15% on the previous season to €11.3 billion, also slightly eclipsing the last pre-pandemic period. It is noteworthy that all the clubs that appear in the top ten have an estimated business value of more than 2 billion euros, providing indisputable evidence of overall development of the sector. It is characteristic that in 2016, only four clubs exceeded the 2 billion euro mark.

THE Real Madrid lost the premierships mainly due to the significant increase in operating costs, which strongly affected the club’s operating profitability, with a personnel cost to operating revenue ratio of 73%. However, the money received for winning the Champions League and, above all, most of the 300 million euros recorded in the agreement with Sixth Street and the Legends in relation to the new “Santiago Bernabeu”, allowed the club to finish the season 2021-22 with net profits.

The only change in the Top 10 is her entry Arsenal, which displaced Juventus from tenth place. Barcelona (3,504) fell three places to sixth, albeit with a 25% increase, while Liverpool overtook Bayern as the fourth most valuable football club.

THE Milan achieved the highest year-on-year growth (83%) followed by three English clubs, namely Aston Villa (78%), West Ham (75%) and Manchester City (64%), with Villarreal (60%) closing ranking of the five best performing clubs.

This year, only seven leagues are represented in this European elite, with the top five leagues having 29 clubs, representing 97% of the top 32. Furthermore, the dominance of the English Premier League continues, with a record attendance of 11 clubs now making up the 45 %. The truth is, as the report states, that English clubs have benefited greatly from a faster revenue recovery since the pandemic.

Football Benchmark’s Top 10:

1. Manchester City €4.073 billion

2. Real Madrid 4,006

3. Manchester United 3,932

4. Liverpool 3,900

5. Bayern 3,838

6. Barcelona 3,504

7. Chelsea 2,989

8. Paris Saint-Germain 2,858

9. Tottenham Hotspur 2,780

10. Arsenal 2,301