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Football Money League Analysis: Real Madrid & Barcelona Lead A Spanish One-Two, But Where Are La Liga’s Other Big Guns?
Spain two superpowers continue to break records on and off the pitch, but Goal.com’s KS Leong asks where are the rest of La Liga's representatives?
| Bet: | Returns: | Real Sociedad £26.25 | Draw £32.00 | Sevilla £26.25 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Real Sociedad £26.00 | Draw £32.50 | Sevilla £27.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Real Sociedad £28.00 | Draw £32.50 | Sevilla £25.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Real Sociedad £26.50 | Draw £32.00 | Sevilla £24.50 |
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Mar 2, 2010 6:00:00 PM
By KS Leong
It was painfully obvious by the end of the summer of 2009 that two clubs in particular would dominate the world football headlines for the rest of the season.
Real Madrid and Barcelona swooped all before them as they acquired some of the biggest superstars to draw the gaze of the world onto La Liga.
By the end of 2009, the two clubs collectively would indeed boast the five best players on the planet: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaka and Andres Iniesta. Now the two Spanish behemoths have conquered the world again… the business world.
Real Madrid and Barcelona proudly lead an all-Spanish one-two in Deloitte’s latest edition of the Football Money League, a ranking of the world’s richest football clubs based strictly on their income.
While one might think there’s plenty to cheer about, in truth, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. No other Spanish club managed to crack the top 20 in the list and the next La Liga outfit after Barca is Atletico Madrid, a full 20 places further down in 22nd with a reported revenue of just €100.3 million for 2008/09.
Barcelona’s unparalleled success on the football pitch in 2009 has launched the club into a new stratosphere in revenue growth as they chalked up the largest upsurge of any side in the Deloitte Football Money League with an increase of €57 million from the previous year.
Their ferocious on-field nemesis Real Madrid, meanwhile, continued their unrelenting assault on the global market as Florentino Perez swiftly unleashed a second wave Galacticos in the summer of 2009.
Despite their lack of success on the field last season, Los Blancos have a record of their own to boast after becoming the first club in any sport to generate revenue in excess of €400 million as they top the Money League for the fifth year on the trot.
The success of both clubs in the money list stems largely from their broadcasting and commercial revenue. Madrid’s €160.8m income from TV contracts alone easily dwarfs the total revenue of all the other clubs below the top 10 in the Money League, likewise Barca with their total intake of €158.4m from broadcast rights.
Both clubs’ commercial revenue also peak well over €100m, and that’s where the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kaka, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Raul, Thierry Henry and the other galactic household names come in handy.
The lure of the biggest, highest profile footballers on the planet invariably draw the undivided attention of broadcast companies and sponsorship partners, something that La Liga‘s best of the rest come up horribly short.
But it’s not just about having the funds to recruit the best players. Having the right business-savvy president and administration is also crucial.
At the end of Florentino Perez‘s first season in charge of the ‘White House’, Madrid ranked sixth in the Money League with revenues of €138m. Four years later, the club practically doubled that figure and they rocketed to the top of the of the list, never to look back.
Similarly for Barcelona, when Joan Laporta took office in 2003, the club were languishing in 13th spot in the Money League. But over the first six years of his tenure, revenues almost tripled, growing at an average rate of over €40m a year.
In Spain, Valencia have arguably one of the largest global fan base outside of Real Madrid and Barcelona but in sharp contrast, their boardroom has been in shambles over the past few years and without a stable, concrete long-term plan, income has been restricted and just last year, the club was struggling to pay their staff wages.
Los Che also possess the most megastars on the pitch after Madrid and Barca and on their day, they play one of the most attractive brands of football. Yet, they cannot command the same kind of revenue from TV contracts and sponsorship deals.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, invested heavily on players post-Fernando Torres, and although they enjoyed some degree of success - such as qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in over a decade - it was ultimately short-lived and their club board have been unable to maintain resources to invest on recruiting more star players to further boost their profile.
Sevilla’s head honchos, president Jose Maria del Nido and sporting director Monchi, are two of the best and toughest negotiators when it comes to player transfer dealings and they have made decent amounts of money off-loading some of their superstars in the past.
But income from player transfers is not taken into consideration by Deloitte in their Money League and the club have made little headway generating revenue from other sources.
While Madrid and Barca have mega shirt deals with Adidas and Nike respectively, Sevilla’s shirt manufacturers, Joma, are a modest Spanish company based in Toledo, Castilla La Mancha. The Andaluz outfit’s Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan only boasts a capacity of just over 48,600, a mini-cooper of stadiums in today’s monolithic, state of the art cathedrals. Although they have one of the most boisterous venues anywhere in Spain, Sevilla's average attendance stands at only 40,000 and as a result, their matchday gate receipts pale in comparison to the country’s big two.
Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, all of whom have appeared in either the Champions League or the UEFA Cup/Europa League this season or the last, all of whom are regular title challengers in La Liga at the start of every season, are nowhere to be found in the top 20 of the Money League.
And despite boasting some of the biggest stars in the game such as Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan, David Villa, David Silva, Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute, they can’t even compete with the likes of Aston Villa, Everton, West Ham, VfB Stuttgart, Newcastle United or Napoli, with the exception of Atletico.
It’s a worrying sight indeed for the competitiveness of La Liga when a club like Newcastle, who are not even in the top flight of their domestic league, sit two places above an Atleti side who were playing in the Champions League not three months ago.
At the rate things are going, there’s almost no stopping Real Madrid or Barcelona in the Deloitte Football Money League. The various mammoth investments that they have made over the past year are sure to keep them in the top three at the very least in the coming editions and their revenue expected to soar again this time next year.
As the saying goes, the rich only get richer. But by implication, does that mean the Atletico Madrid’s, Valencia’s and Sevilla’s will only get poorer?
Real Madrid and Barcelona swooped all before them as they acquired some of the biggest superstars to draw the gaze of the world onto La Liga.
By the end of 2009, the two clubs collectively would indeed boast the five best players on the planet: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaka and Andres Iniesta. Now the two Spanish behemoths have conquered the world again… the business world.
Real Madrid and Barcelona proudly lead an all-Spanish one-two in Deloitte’s latest edition of the Football Money League, a ranking of the world’s richest football clubs based strictly on their income.
While one might think there’s plenty to cheer about, in truth, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. No other Spanish club managed to crack the top 20 in the list and the next La Liga outfit after Barca is Atletico Madrid, a full 20 places further down in 22nd with a reported revenue of just €100.3 million for 2008/09.
Barcelona’s unparalleled success on the football pitch in 2009 has launched the club into a new stratosphere in revenue growth as they chalked up the largest upsurge of any side in the Deloitte Football Money League with an increase of €57 million from the previous year.
Their ferocious on-field nemesis Real Madrid, meanwhile, continued their unrelenting assault on the global market as Florentino Perez swiftly unleashed a second wave Galacticos in the summer of 2009.
Despite their lack of success on the field last season, Los Blancos have a record of their own to boast after becoming the first club in any sport to generate revenue in excess of €400 million as they top the Money League for the fifth year on the trot.
The success of both clubs in the money list stems largely from their broadcasting and commercial revenue. Madrid’s €160.8m income from TV contracts alone easily dwarfs the total revenue of all the other clubs below the top 10 in the Money League, likewise Barca with their total intake of €158.4m from broadcast rights.
Both clubs’ commercial revenue also peak well over €100m, and that’s where the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kaka, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Raul, Thierry Henry and the other galactic household names come in handy.
Money-makers Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo
The lure of the biggest, highest profile footballers on the planet invariably draw the undivided attention of broadcast companies and sponsorship partners, something that La Liga‘s best of the rest come up horribly short.
But it’s not just about having the funds to recruit the best players. Having the right business-savvy president and administration is also crucial.
At the end of Florentino Perez‘s first season in charge of the ‘White House’, Madrid ranked sixth in the Money League with revenues of €138m. Four years later, the club practically doubled that figure and they rocketed to the top of the of the list, never to look back.
Similarly for Barcelona, when Joan Laporta took office in 2003, the club were languishing in 13th spot in the Money League. But over the first six years of his tenure, revenues almost tripled, growing at an average rate of over €40m a year.
In Spain, Valencia have arguably one of the largest global fan base outside of Real Madrid and Barcelona but in sharp contrast, their boardroom has been in shambles over the past few years and without a stable, concrete long-term plan, income has been restricted and just last year, the club was struggling to pay their staff wages.
Los Che also possess the most megastars on the pitch after Madrid and Barca and on their day, they play one of the most attractive brands of football. Yet, they cannot command the same kind of revenue from TV contracts and sponsorship deals.
Los Che's triple threat Villa, Mata & Joaquin
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, invested heavily on players post-Fernando Torres, and although they enjoyed some degree of success - such as qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in over a decade - it was ultimately short-lived and their club board have been unable to maintain resources to invest on recruiting more star players to further boost their profile.
Sevilla’s head honchos, president Jose Maria del Nido and sporting director Monchi, are two of the best and toughest negotiators when it comes to player transfer dealings and they have made decent amounts of money off-loading some of their superstars in the past.
But income from player transfers is not taken into consideration by Deloitte in their Money League and the club have made little headway generating revenue from other sources.
While Madrid and Barca have mega shirt deals with Adidas and Nike respectively, Sevilla’s shirt manufacturers, Joma, are a modest Spanish company based in Toledo, Castilla La Mancha. The Andaluz outfit’s Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan only boasts a capacity of just over 48,600, a mini-cooper of stadiums in today’s monolithic, state of the art cathedrals. Although they have one of the most boisterous venues anywhere in Spain, Sevilla's average attendance stands at only 40,000 and as a result, their matchday gate receipts pale in comparison to the country’s big two.
Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, all of whom have appeared in either the Champions League or the UEFA Cup/Europa League this season or the last, all of whom are regular title challengers in La Liga at the start of every season, are nowhere to be found in the top 20 of the Money League.
And despite boasting some of the biggest stars in the game such as Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan, David Villa, David Silva, Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute, they can’t even compete with the likes of Aston Villa, Everton, West Ham, VfB Stuttgart, Newcastle United or Napoli, with the exception of Atletico.
It’s a worrying sight indeed for the competitiveness of La Liga when a club like Newcastle, who are not even in the top flight of their domestic league, sit two places above an Atleti side who were playing in the Champions League not three months ago.
At the rate things are going, there’s almost no stopping Real Madrid or Barcelona in the Deloitte Football Money League. The various mammoth investments that they have made over the past year are sure to keep them in the top three at the very least in the coming editions and their revenue expected to soar again this time next year.
As the saying goes, the rich only get richer. But by implication, does that mean the Atletico Madrid’s, Valencia’s and Sevilla’s will only get poorer?
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