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With several television and media deals backing clubs, they now have become massive earners and often spend lavishly on their players and infrastructure. None more so than Spain’s Real Madrid according to Forbes’ latest ranking of the most valuable sports teams for 2015.
Los Galacticos are valued at a whopping $3.26 billion and have been top of the list now for the third consecutive time. Apart from being named the most valuable team, Real also recorded the highest revenue in all sports, amounting to a cool $746 million. They have put together a galaxy of stars but the top men like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale alone helped the club earn a profit of $171 million.
The La Liga TV sponsorship deal, unlike the English Premier League, is one where each club is responsible for the deals they make in terms of how much they will earn from the sale of their rights. The EPL, on the other hand, has a collective bargaining and distribution system where the gap between the top teams and the rest is relatively less.
Despite being the most valuable sports team, Real Madrid suffered from the fall of the euro and haven’t won a trophy in Europe this year despite claiming the Club World Cup trophy early on. Their plans for renovation of Santiago Bernabeu were also put to a stop by the regional high court in February, though, the club insists it will push on for the reforms.
The cutoff to make it onto Forbes’ list this year was $1.15 billion up from $856 million last year. The teams haven't disappointed putting together an average valuation of $1.75 billion among the top 50 which is 31% more than last year’s aveage.
Other football clubs feature as well
Among the top five are two more football teams with Barcelona in fourth ($3.16 billion) being the only other Spanish team on the list. Manchester United immediately follow in fifth ($3.1 billion) as the most valuable team in English football.
Their derby rivals Manchester City are next but way down in 29th position ($1.39bn) followed by English Champions Chelsea in 31st place ($1.37billion). Arsenal round off all the football sides in 36th position ($1.31bn)
NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, F1 and Nascar teams make up the rest of the list. Among the top 5 are Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees who are both tied in second, valued at $3.2 billion.
TV deals make up most of the revenue
The American NFL is the highest earner in terms of TV revenue. Only last year, it kicked off its more than $5 billion a year in network deals. It is topped by a $1.5 billion per year deal with Direct TV. Such deals leading the way in terms of monetising the clubs’ popularity.
Not to be left behind, the Premier League has a new deal with broadcasting giant Sky worth $2.7 billion a year. The deal comes into effect from 2016 and will improve the current earning by 70%.
