Real Madrid have been named as the highest revenue-generating football club in the world for the 2022-23 season by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, replacing Manchester City at the top of the list.
The Deloitte Football Money League is in its 27th year of analysing the highest revenue-generating football clubs globally, and reported that those clubs earned a record €10.5 billion ($11.4bn) in the 2022-23 season, a 14% increase on the previous year.
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Madrid were last at the top of the index five years ago, and reported a record figure of €831 million for last season’s period, €118m more than the year before.
City earned €5m fewer than Madrid in second, with the top five filled out by Paris Saint-Germain (€802m), Barcelona (€800m), and Manchester United (€746m).
PSG and Barça’s ascension into the top five shows European clubs “regaining ground” on the Premier League, according to Deloitte, though Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are all in the top 10.
Liverpool were the list’s biggest fallers, going from third to seventh, owing to a downturn in results in domestic and European competitions.
Newcastle and West Ham United are 17th and 18th respectively, ahead of reigning Serie A champions Napoli.
Deloitte said the figures revealed that commercial revenue had replaced broadcast money as the largest income stream for clubs on the list for the first time since 2015-16, excluding the COVID-19-affected 2019-20 season.
“Another record-breaking year for Money League clubs represents the ongoing financial might of the football industry,” Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said.
“A high demand for live sport is pointing towards further growth for commercial and matchday revenues, in particular. As clubs appear to no longer be able to rely on exponential broadcast revenue growth, creating a more commercially focused business model will support them to achieve greater control over their financial stability.”
This is the second year Deloitte have analysed the women’s game — though the figures don’t include large markets such as the United States and Japan as data for those clubs was not made available.
The revenue ranking for women’s football also excludes any contributions from the clubs’ associated men’s side.
Barça topped the list for women’s teams generated revenue for 2022-23 revenue of €13.4 million, representing an increase of 74% on the previous year’s figures.
Man United (€8m) are in second place, followed by Real Madrid (€7.4m), Man City (€5.3m), and Arsenal (€5.3m).
Full men’s Deloitte Money Football League list
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Paris Saint-Germain
Barcelona
Manchester United
Bayern Munich
Liverpool
Tottenham
Chelsea
Arsenal
