Spanish duo lead but English rule money league

MANCHESTER United have slipped to third in the league — but only when it comes to money.

The English club may be top of the Premier League but when it comes to revenues, they were overtaken by Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona last season.

Despite this, the Premier League is the richest league in the world with seven clubs in the top 20 of the latest Football Money League, compiled by Deloitte.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea all held their previous years’ positions of third, fifth and sixth while Liverpool slipped one place to eighth.

Major broadcasting and sponsorship deals resulted in the world’s top 20 football clubs having combined revenues of €4 billion for the first time ever last season, up 8% on last year.

For the sixth year running, Real Madrid leads the pack followed by Barcelona and Manchester United.

Partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, Dan Jones, said all bar three of the top 20 clubs achieved revenue growth during 2009/10, demonstrating “the continued resilience of football’s top clubs as the full impact of the global economic downturn took hold.

“The game’s top clubs have proved themselves well-placed to meet these economic challenges, given their large and loyal supporter bases, ability to drive broadcast audiences and continuing attraction to corporate partners.”

Real Madrid held a €41 million revenue advantage over Barcelona in 2009/10 but Deloitte think the Catalan club’s revenues should exceed €400m in the next edition of the Money League.

Barcelona has now entered into its first paid-for, multi-year shirtfront sponsorship deal, with Qatar Foundation, for a guaranteed minimum of €165m over the duration of the contract, a new world record.

“We expect the battle for top spot in the Money League to be between Spain’s two superclubs for the next few years at least.”

Following massive investment, Manchester City is the biggest climber this year, moving up nine places to 11th from 20th. The club also recorded its highest ever revenues, with an increase of €45m (44%) to €147m, the largest absolute and relative growth of any club this year.

Meanwhile, having qualified for the Champions League, Tottenham Hotspur will also challenge Liverpool for the mantle of the fourth highest-earning English club and a top 10 position overall in the Money League.

All of this year’s top 20 clubs are from the ‘big five’ European leagues, with England contributing seven, Germany and Italy four clubs each, Spain three clubs and France two.

Director in the sports business group, Alan Switzer said: “Consistent on-pitch performance and participation in the UEFA Champions League have proved essential in maintaining a top spot in the Money League. Fourteen of the top 20 clubs participated in the Champions League in 2009/10, and six clubs in the reformatted and renamed UEFA Europa League from the Group phases onwards.”

The two clubs that have dropped out of the Money League for 2009/10 are Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund.