Real Madrid remain football’s top earners but Liverpool overtake Man Utd

Real Madrid remained top-flighters in world football during the 2024-2019 season despite surpassing Manchester United for the first time in an annual financial list of the highest-paid teams.

Despite not winning either La Liga or the Champions League, the Spanish club surpassed Deloitte’s Football Money League, which was released on Thursday, with 1.16 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in revenue. Real Madrid, the only club to earn more than $1 billion over the past two seasons, benefited from a staggering 23 percent increase in commercial revenue, driven by merchandise and corporate partners, to 594 million euros ($696.6 million), according to Deloitte figures.

With 975 million euros ($1.14 million), Barcelona, the reigning La Liga champion, was the second-high earners for the first time in five years.

Bayern Munich, the champions of the Bundesliga, came in third with 861 million euros ($1.09 billion), ahead of Paris St-Germain, who won the Champions League, with 837 million euros ($981.5 million).

Liverpool’s fifth-place finish in the world money list, which included 836 million euros ($980.4 million) in revenue from the Premier League season, was the best of any English club’s 29-year history.

Manchester City dropped to sixth place with 829 million euros ($721.3 million), followed by Arsenal, who are currently in the Premier League, with 822 million ($1.1 billion).

Demise of Manchester United

Manchester United finished last season at a lowly 15th place in the Premier League, falling from fourth to eighth place in revenues with a total of 793 million euros ($929.7 million), which is their lowest-ever Money League position that they have overtaken ten times in the past.

Due to their early exits from the FA Cup and League Cup and their absence from European competition, according to Deloitte, United’s revenue outlook for the current season will worsen.

Manchester United’s matchday revenue was the industry leader, according to Tim Bridge, lead partner at Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, if you go back 10 or 15 years.

The market’s benchmark was their capacity to generate commercial revenue. That is not the case, in my opinion.

Tottenham came in ninth place with 673 million euros ($789.1 million) and Chelsea, who came in seventh with 584 million euros ($684.8 million).

The top 20 clubs’ overall revenue increased by 11 percent, reaching a record $12.4 billion ($14.5 billion). Commercial income increased to 5.3 billion euros ($6.2 billion), as a result of increased stadium usage on non-gamedays, stronger sponsorship deals, and improved retail operations.

The fastest growth was seen in matchday revenue, which increased by 16 percent to 2.4 billion euros ($2.8 billion), while broadcast revenue increased by 10%, thanks to the expanded FIFA Club World Cup held in the United States last year.

According to Deloitte, Major League Soccer’s rise of some Saudi Pro League clubs and Inter Miami may eventually challenge the financial hegemony of Europe’s major leagues.

The “star players’ competitions have had a significant impact on the global profile of clubs and both leagues,” it said.