Real Madrid have earned the largest ever lead at the top of football’s earnings tree, according to Deloitte’s annual Football Money League, after a season of record revenue in the Spanish capital.
The Spanish and European champions took home $1.13 billion over the course of the 2023-24 season, one in which the completion of renovation to the Santiago Bernabeu doubled matchday revenue to around a quarter of a billion dollars. With commercial revenue also significantly increasing Madrid extended their earnings lead over Manchester City beyond $200 million. It is the largest gap between first and second in the near 30-year history of the Money League, according to Theo Ajadi, assistant director in the Deloitte Sports Business Group.
Paris Saint-Germain remain in third while Manchester United and Bayern Munich have leapfrogged Barcelona into the top five. In a sign of the entrenchment of wealth at the elite of the European game, the makeup of the top 10 remains unchanged, though a season of Champions League football and improved commercial revenue was enough to push Arsenal above the remainder of the Premier League’s “Big Six” of Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea, in that order. Borussia Dortmund are the only other club in soccer to have earnings over half a billion dollars.
Deloitte Football Money League
| Rank (last year’s position) | Team | 2023-24 Revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 (1) |
Real Madrid |
$1.1 billion |
+26% |
|
2 (2) |
Manchester City |
$906.1 million |
+1% |
|
3 (3) |
Paris Saint-Germain |
$871.6 million |
+1% |
|
4 (5) |
Manchester United |
$833.5 million |
+3% |
|
5 (6) |
Bayern Munich |
$827.8 million |
+3% |
|
6 (4) |
Barcelona |
$822.3 million |
-5% |
|
7 (10) |
Arsenal |
$775 million |
+35% |
|
8 (7) |
Liverpool |
$773 million |
+5% |
|
9 (8) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
$665.2 million |
-3% |
|
10 (9) |
Chelsea |
$590 million |
-7% |
They will have a long way to go to catch Madrid, who became the first ever European football club to reach one billion euros in revenue when they published their financial report for the 2023-24 season in July. Barcelona had previously topped the billion dollar mark in 2017-18 but no club had ever hit the number in euros. Indeed the Dallas Cowboys are believed to be the only sports team to have posted higher revenue than Madrid.
“Clubs have been targeting a billion euros in revenue for a while, even pre-COVID,” said Ajadi. “In terms of how that has been realized, you have long-term licenses for matchday seats, which has contributed significantly to that, and retail operations as well.
“It really encapsulates the brand that Madrid has and their ability to leverage that. They’ve done that very successfully this year.
“It’s the biggest gap between first and second in Money League history by some distance. It would take quite a jump from those in second to fifth, even when you discount the licenses. There is still quite a sizeable gap that would need to be narrowed significantly.”
The Taylor Swift effect
Madrid’s revenue success speaks to the growing trend for football clubs using their stadia as year-round facilities beyond 25 or so home matches a season. Indeed renovation work on the Bernabeu did not restore its capacity to the 125,000 of the 1950s and 60s but instead focused on providing more VIP bars, premium seating and restaurants for its 80,000.
Twenty-four hours before Madrid lifted their 16th European Cup, Taylor Swift was bringing an end to the second night of her Eras Tour at the Bernabeu, the two shows said by Spanish media to have been worth just under $10 million to the La Liga champions. With the Miami Dolphins to host Madrid’s first NFL regular season later this year and further concerts to go on their books, revenue away from football looks to be crucial in keeping Los Merengues at the 10-figure revenue mark.
“Club stadia are increasingly being valued as more than just matchday assets, with a number of clubs converting their grounds into multi-use entertainment venues that attract new visitors, sponsors, and retail opportunities,” said Deloitte Sports Business Group’s lead partner Tim Bridge. “Football clubs are now realising the value of becoming far more than sporting brands, with media and entertainment becoming intertwined with the commercial potential that they have to offer.”
Madrid were not the only side to benefit from the Swift effect. In a season where they swapped lucrative Champions League football for Europa League, Liverpool were still able to increase their earnings by 5%. Three nights of the Eras Tour doubtless helped.
Women’s team aiding Arsenal’s rise
Concerts are not the only way to get more through the turnstiles of top stadia. Arsenal’s leap above three of their rivals is predominantly down to increased broadcast revenue from their Champions League deal and new commercial deals, including with long-term sponsor Emirates. What might be said to have made the $2 million difference between them and Liverpool, however, is the earnings generated by the women’s team.
At $19.4 million — a tally bettered only by Barcelona and that by fine margins — the women’s team are becoming a revenue driver for Arsenal. In 2023-24 the Gunners played six WSL matches at the Emirates Stadium, breaking the competition’s attendance record three times and achieving an average attendance of 30,005, 93% higher than 12 months prior. Account only for attendance at the Emirates and crowds of 52,029 would make for the eighth highest attendance among Premier League clubs.
The momentum has not slowed into the new campaign. With three and a half weeks to go until Feb. 16 more than 40,000 tickets have been sold for the north London derby against Tottenham, sources told CBS Sports.
“Whilst now it’s a relatively small portion of revenue, as those properties grow it will have a more material impact and potentially attract new fans,” said Ajadi. “That has had a huge impact for Arsenal. If you can get 60,000 into the Emirates more often, that will be very important. Clients we serve are really looking into women’s football more.
“It isn’t just Arsenal. A lot of Championship and League One teams are hosting more games there. It’ll be a lot of work for the pitch staff, that’s for sure!”
Can Barcelona close the gap to Madrid?
Meanwhile, the table makes instinctively grim reading for Barcelona, out of the top five for the second time in three years and with around $300 million in revenue to make up on their greatest rivals. Equally, there is some degree of hope around the corner with the imminent completion of renovations to the Camp Nou, due to host games before the end of this season. Their time at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic has not been good for Barcelona fans or finances with matchday revenue of around $110 million significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels, let alone the near two and half times it Madrid are earning.
Though the levers president Joan Laporta pulled to fund transfers in the summer of 2022 threaten to limit the ceiling of Barcelona’s long-term earning potential, their new stadium could well pull them back towards the top of the standings.
