Real Madrid have surpassed Manchester City once again to reclaim the title of the highest revenue-generating football club in the annual Deloitte Football Money League, despite securing the treble last season.
The report also brought another surprise, revealing that the revenue of the top 20 richest men's clubs increased by 14% to £9 billion last season. Tottenham, in a surprising turn, surpassed Chelsea to become the richest club in London.
In other findings, there has been a slowdown in the extent of Premier League dominance, with only eight English clubs making the top 20 compared to 11 in the 2021-22 season.
Liverpool's underwhelming on-field performances led to a drop from third to seventh place, marking the most significant fall among the top 20 clubs. Their revenue declined from £594.3 million to £593.8 million.
Manchester United (£649 million) slipped one place to fifth, while Tottenham (£549 million) moved up to eighth, overtaking Chelsea (£513 million) in ninth and Arsenal (£463 million) in tenth. Leicester City, Leeds United, and Everton fell out of the top 20, making way for Eintracht Frankfurt, Napoli, and Marseille.
“It shows that the Premier League can’t rest on its laurels,” said Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group. “It’s worth noting that while domestic TV rights have risen slightly, the league has had to give away more matches to achieve that.”
Madrid regained the top position by augmenting their revenues by £119 million to reach £723 million, propelled by capacity crowds, robust retail results, and heightened sponsorship earnings.
City also demonstrated a robust performance, achieving a record £718 million in revenues for the 2021-22 season. However, it was noted that their 53,400-seat stadium somewhat impeded their progress.
“City’s match-day revenue is €83m [£71m],” he said. “But the question is how they can kick over the €100m revenue marker, which is the threshold of clubs with innovative new stadiums. Real Madrid and Barcelona will be way over that figure in the future, and Tottenham are significantly over it now.”
On the other hand, Barcelona emerged as the highest-earning women's club in Deloitte's rankings, which concentrate on European teams outside of Scandinavia, boasting £11.6 million in revenue.
In the rankings, Manchester United secured the second position with £7 million, though this amount encompasses revenues from a joint kit sponsorship deal with the men's team.
Other English clubs, namely Manchester City (£4.6 million), Chelsea (£3.5 million), and Tottenham (£2.3 million), also featured in the top 10. Among the top 15 women's clubs assessed by Deloitte, the average revenue was £3.68 million, reflecting a 61% increase.
“We’re in a period of rapid growth,” Bridge said. “But maybe the business model, and the way that the game is structured, needs to be different to the men’s.
“We shouldn’t be shy in saying that broadcast revenue may not fundamentally predict the growth of the women’s game in the future. The power of the athlete, and the ability to be a female role model and appeal to major corporations, should also be an extremely compelling story. So it’s exciting times.”