Manchester United have been named as the highest revenue generating club in world football for a tenth time, topping the 2016-17 Deloitte Football Money League with an income of €676 million (£581m).
United were awarded €44.5m in payments from UEFA for winning the Europa League last season, over four times more than Atletico Madrid recieved for claiming the trophy in the 2011-12 campaign, which was enough to place them above Real Madrid in second.
The Liga giants claimed the Spanish top-flight title in 16-17, as well as the Club World Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and their second Champions League trophy in as many years. Their success led to the club generating €674.6m (£579.7m) of revenue, though it was not enough to surpass United as the richest club. The €1.7m margin between the two superclubs is the narrowest ever recorded.
Barcelona rank third in Money League with a revenue of €648.3m (£557.1m), with Bayern Munich (€587.8m/505.1m), and Manchester City (€527.7m/£453.5m) completing the top five.
A record ten English clubs feature in the top 20, generating a total revenue of €3.8bn, helped by the fact that 16-17 was the first season of the current record Premier League broadcast rights deal.
Tim Bridge, senior manager in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, comments: “The Deloitte Football Money League has a particularly English feel this year and with the new broadcast deal and UEFA competition performance driving broadcast revenue growth of over half a billion pounds for those in the top 20, it doesn’t come as a surprise. As the Premier League is currently in the middle of its rights tender for the next cycle from 2019/20, the results of this will be crucial to determining the long term composition of the Money League.”
Three clubs from Germany, three from Spain, three from Italy and one from France feature in the top 20.
Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “European football continues to flourish financially, with almost half a billion Euro of revenue growth for the top 20 Money League clubs. And at the top, we’ve seen the closest ever battle for the top spot, with Manchester United pipping Real Madrid to retain their title of the highest revenue generating club in the world. United generated £581m in 2016/17."
In total, the combined revenue of the top 20 clubs grew six per cent to €7.9bn, a new Money League record, but how do the clubs rank overall? Goal takes a look.
