Deloitte has reported that the European football market is worth a staggering £22 billion (€25.5 billion). We provide some of the most exciting financial insights of each 2018/19 UEFA Champions League group after yesterday’s draw.
Forbes has ranked the value of each team based on their enterprise value (equity plus net debt) based on current stadium deal (unless new stadium is pending). This ranking has been used to inform the information below.
Group A: Atlético Madrid, Dortmund, Monaco, Club Brugge
Atlético Madrid and Dortmund are possibly the most exciting teams in this group.
The third most successful Spanish football club, Atlético, has a calculated team value of €720 million. The club’s major sponsors include CaixaBank and the online betting brand Bwin.
However, the top tier German football club, Dortmund, has a calculated team value of €765 million. The German team shares the same sponsor as Atlético, Bwin. In the past year, Dortmund have had a 12% value change.
Monaco and Club Brugge fail to make Forbes’ ranking of the top 20 richest European clubs.
Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham, PSV, Inter Milan
PSV is the only team in this group that fails to be ranked among the top 20.
Currently, Barcelona is ranked third richest European club. The team is valued at €3.5 billion. The club’s most prestigious player and captain, Lionel Messi, takes home $111 million ($84 million in salary and $27 million in endorsements).
Ranked tenth by Forbes, Tottenham Hotspur has a team value of £917 million. The club have recently invested in a new 62,062-seat stadium which should see them enter a new era of financial success. The new stadium is part of the Northumberland Development Project. The project also includes 579 new homes, a 180-room hotel, a local community health center, an extreme sports facility, as well as the Lilywhite House, which contains a Sainsbury’s supermarket, a sixth form college and the club’s headquarters. The project is a plan to regenerate the entire area.
Almost at the bottom of the ranking lies Inter Milan with a team value of €515 million. Interestingly, over the past two seasons the club’s commercial revenue has nearly tripled.
Group C: PSG, Napoli, Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade
Similar to Group B, all but one team make Forbes’ top 20, Red Star Belgrade.
Premier League club, Liverpool, has a team worth of £1.4 billion. The club’s revenue has almost doubled since 2010. Interestingly, the team’s sponsors include Carlsberg and fashion New Balance. After the sponsorship of Liverpool’s kit, New Balance have begun to move themselves into the sports clothing market.
Next, the French football club PSG has a team value of €825 million. The team have recently signed the prestigious Italian goalkeeper, and free agent, Gianluigi Buffon. This is following the end of his 17-year stay with Italian club Juventus.
Finally for Group C is Napoli with a team value of €400 million. The Italian club has seen a 24% change in their value in the past year. They are one of the few Italian clubs with no long-term debt.
Group D: Lokomotiv Moscow, Porto, Schalke 04, Galatasaray
The only team in this group to make Forbes’ top 20 is Schalke 04. The German club have a team value of €600 million.
Group E: Bayern, AEK, Ajax, Benfica
Similar to Group D, only one team is ranked among the top 20, Bayern Munich. The German club is ranked fourth with a team worth of €2.6 billion. The team generated an astonishing $374 million in commercial revenue which is the most in football.
Interestingly, the German league Bundesliga has the highest average stadium attendance worldwide.
Bayern Munich is the most successful club in German football history having won 28 national titles and 18 national cups.
Group F: Man. City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, Hoffenheim
Man. City is the only Group F club to be ranked in the Forbes top 20. The Premier League club has a team value of £1.8 billion. The club has seen a value change of 19% in the last year. In 2016-17, Deloitte ranked the team as having the fifth highest revenue in football at €527.7 million.
Group G: Real Madrid, Roma, CSKA Moscow, Plzeň
Ranked second in Europe, Real Madrid has a team value of €3.5 billion. Driven by the club’s historic Champions League success, Real Madrid’s revenue has increased annually by an average of 11% since 2000. In July, the Spanish club agreed on a £99.2 million deal with Juventus for reigning Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
The club currently holds sponsorship deals with several international brands including Adidas, Nivea, Microsoft and Audi.
Group H: Juventus, Man. United, Valencia, Young Boys
Man. United is ranked as the team with the highest value at an incredible £3.1 billion and the controlling shareholder is the Glazer family. The club’s value has changed by 12% in the past year. In June 2015, it was ranked the most valuable football brand with an estimate worth of £789 million.
The prestigious Italian club Juventus is ranked ninth with a team value of €1.3 billion. Interestingly, Deloitte has reported that the reigning Serie A champions became one of the first ten wealthiest in international football in terms of value, revenue and profit since the mid-1990s. Earlier in July, the club signed Cristiano Ronaldo after agreeing a deal with Real Madrid. This sparked strikes at a Fiat Chrysler plant in Italy after its main investor decided to pay millions of euros on the purchase of a player whilst workers were making economic sacrifices.
Juventus remains Italy’s richest football club and has seen a value change of 17% in the past year.
