Football is the world’s most popular sport, and the clubs at the very top of the game have grown into big business, not just sports teams.
The amount of money in the game means that football clubs are run as commercial entities; sponsorship, commercial partnerships, branding and broadcasting deals are as important as results on the pitch.
Europe’s top five leagues – and generally those who frequent its premier competition, the Champions League – dominate the upper reaches in both aspects.
And so to the Deloitte Money League, which analyses a club’s ability to generate revenue from matchday sales, broadcasting rights and commercial sources to rank them.
The 20th edition of the league demonstrates the ever-changing nature of football at the very top level.
With money forever on the increase, clubs have been forced to develop ways to stay ahead of the game.
While the same big names feature in the top 10, there have been some interesting movements, with a new club crowned the wealthiest for the 2015/16 season.
Manchester United regained top spot in the Deloitte Money League for the first time in more than a decade.
The Red Devils, benefiting from a return to the Champions League, posted a record revenue of £515.3million over the course of the 2015-16.
That was enough to knock Real Madrid off the top spot after 11 years at the summit. The Spaniards slipped to third, despite returning their own record of £463.8m – an increase of almost £45m. Barcelona move into second.
Over the course of the Money League’s 20-year existence, United are the only side other than Real to have held top spot, and the huge wealth of English clubs was evident again in 2015-16, as eight teams made the top 20.
Manchester City moved into the top five for the first time, their revenues up £40m to just under £400m, while Leicester made their debut appearance in the list.
The £128.7m generated by the Foxes during their surprise title-winning season is almost five times more than the club recorded during the 2013-14 campaign.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all had the money to be placed in the top 10, Tottenham finished 11th and West Ham also made the cut, having seen revenues rise by more than a third.
Combined revenues for the clubs who made the top 20 grew a whopping 12 per cent to £6.4billion, of which eight Premier League sides contributed £2.4b.
Position Club 2015/16 revenue
1. Manchester United £515.3m
2. Barcelona £463.8m
3. Real Madrid £463.8m
4. Bayern Munich £442.7m
5. Manchester City £392.6m
6. Paris Saint-Germain £389.6m
7. Arsenal £350.4m
8. Chelsea £334.6m
9. Liverpool £302m
10. Juventus £255.1m
11. Borussia Dortmund £212.3m
12. Tottenham £209.2m
13. Atletico Madrid £171m
14. Schalke 04 £167.9m
16. AC Milan £160.6m
17. Zenit St Petersburg £147m
18. West Ham £143.8m
19. Inter Milan £134m
20. Leicester City £128.7m
21. Newcastle United £146.01m
22. Southampton £141.76m
23. Everton £141.06m
24. Lyon £138.89m
25. Fenerbahce £136.9m
26. Galatasaray £135.33m
27. Benfica £132.04m
28. B/Monchengladbach £129.6m
29. Sunderland £125.35m
30. Napoli £123.88m
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