Man United Overtake Barca, Real Madrid By Huge Margin In Football Money League Despite Poor Season

Manchester United have returned to the top of the Deloitte Football Money League for the first time in 11 years after recording the highest annual revenue for a football club in history.

United’s record revenue for the 2015/16 season of £515.3m sees them leapfrog Spanish giants Barcelona (£463.8m) and Real Madrid (£463.8m), who sit second and third respectively.

Champions League holders Real slip to third after 11 years at the top, despite breaking the €600m revenue barrier for the first time.

The Deloitte Football Money League measures a club’s earnings from matchday revenue, broadcast rights and commercial sources, and ranks them on that basis. The study does not include player transfer fees.

Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “Manchester United have had to wait 11 years to regain their position as the world’s leading revenue-generating club and it has taken phenomenal commercial revenue growth to help them achieve this.

“In recent years, their ability to secure commercial partnerships with value in excess of that achievable by their peers has been the crucial factor in enabling the club to regain their place at the top of the Money League.

“That said, they’ll face strong competition from FC Barcelona and Real Madrid to retain the top spot in next year’s edition, due to the lack of Champions League football, the weakening of the pound against the Euro and, over the longer term, as other clubs enter the commercial market demanding similar deals, using United as the precedent.”

Manchester City sit fifth with £392.6m in revenue and are the next Premier League team on the list, while Arsenal (£350.4m), Chelsea (£334.6m) and Liverpool (£302m) also crack the top ten.

The Premier League has eight teams in the top 20 overall, equalling its own record total, with Tottenham (£209.2m), West Ham (£143.8m) and reigning champions Leicester City (£128.7m) also making the cut.