Tier List fútbol español

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Soccer club values are up 30% on average in the past two years as investors eye untapped potential in the sports global appeal.

Lionel Messi of Barcelona in action during the La Liga Santander match between FC Barcelona and Real Valladolid CF at Camp Nou on April 5, 2021 in Barcelona, Spain.

Move over, Madrid. Spain has a new No. 1.

Barcelona tops theForbeslist of the worlds 20 most valuable soccer teams for the first time, knocking Real Madrid to No. 2. Barcelona is valued at $4.76 billion, just nudging out Real Madrid at $4.75 billion. The top spot had been monopolized by two teams for the previous 16 years, with Real Madrid taking it five times and Englands Manchester United 11 times.

Barcelonas rise comes as the club has been caught in a public fight with superstar Lionel Messi, the worlds highest-paid player, who threatened to leave last year before the final season under his contract. The months-long cliffhanger ended with Messi staying put and the teams president resigning.

The worlds 20 most valuable soccer teams are worth an average of $2.28 billion apiece, an increase of 30% from two years ago, the last time we published the ranking. The jump comes despite a decline in revenue caused by limited attendance during the pandemic, with buyers focused on what they see as still untapped revenue potential in the sports massive global following.

Average revenue for the 20 teams was $441 million for the 2019-20 season, down 9.6% from 2017-18, while average operating income fell by 70% over the period to $23 million. The pain is far from over, with a worsening decline in match-day revenue during the current season as most of the teams in Europes top leagues still permit few fans to attend games.

Still, investors continue to pay the kind of rich multiples for top-tier soccer teams that they offer for NFL, NBA and big-market MLB franchises. For RedBird Capitals recent acquisition of a minority stake in Fenway Sports Group, which owns Liverpool, an appraiser valued the Premier League club at more than $4 billion, roughly 6.4 times revenueabout the same multiple Steve Cohen paid for the New York Mets last year when he bought the MLB franchise for $2.42 billion. The NBAs Utah Jazz changed hands for $1.66 billion in December, or six times pre-pandemic revenue. Liverpools value is up 88% since our last valuation.

The club, which lands at No. 5 on this years list at $4.1 billion, has 84 million combined followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and is the worlds 12th-most-valuable sports team. Barcelona [fourth in the world overall] and Madrid [fifth] have more than 260 million social media followers each. The NFLs Dallas Cowboys, the worlds most valuable sports franchise at $5.7 billion, has less than 16 million social media followers.

Those massive followings pay off. Manchester United, with almost 140 million followers, recently replaced shirt sponsor Chevrolet with TeamViewer, a German software company. The deal begins in the coming 2021-22 season and will pay Man U an average of $64.9 million over five years. While thats less than the amount paid by the carmaker under the clubs previous deal, the new agreement includes fewer commercial rights, which means Manchester United can seek another automotive sponsor and matchor even exceedthe original deal with Chevrolet in combination. Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, home to soccers No. 2 earner Ronaldo, all have shirt deals expiring within the next few years.

SOCCERS TOP SHIRT SPONSORSHIP DEALS

Merchandise is another juicy draw for investors. Last summer, Paris Saint-Germain and sports merchandising powerhouse Fanaticsannouncedan e-commerce, manufacturing and licensing deal that a person familiar with the agreement said could triple the French clubs e-commerce business to almost $40 million by 2023. The club could collect about $60 million annually by the midpoint of the ten-year deal.

Real Madrid remains the king in global soccer when it comes to commercial revenue, pulling in $424 million during 2019-20 from advertising, sponsorships, and shirt and kit deals, a rise of 55% from five years ago, including soccers most valuable shirt deal [$82.5 million per year] and richest kit deal [$152 million a year] through ties with Adidas that run through 2030. Barcelona, which had commercial revenue of $377 million, nudged ahead of Madrid thanks to its $275 million of broadcast revenue, the most of any soccer team.

See the full ranking below, and clickherefor historical values and financial information on every team.

1. Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Club members

Value: $4.76 billion

Two-Year Change: 18%

Revenue [2020]: $792 million

Operating Income [2020]: $62.2 million

Debt Value: 6%

2. Real Madrid

Madrid, Spain

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Club members

Value: $4.75 billion

Two-Year Change: 12%

Revenue [2020]: $792 million

Operating Income [2020]: $92 million

Debt Value: 6%

Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid CF in action during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg football match between Real Madrid CF and Atalanta BC at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on March 16, 2021 in Madrid, Spain.

3. Bayern Munich

Munich, Germany

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Club members

Value: $4.215 billion

Two-Year Change: 39%

Revenue [2020]: $703 million

Operating Income [2020]: $49.2 million

Debt Value: 0%

4. Manchester United

Manchester, England

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Glazer family

Value: $4.2 billion

Two-Year Change: 10%

Revenue [2020]: $643 million

Operating Income [2020]: $166.6 million

Debt Value: 16%

5. Liverpool

Liverpool, England

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: John Henry, Tom Werner

Value: $4.1 billion

Two-Year Change: 88%

Revenue [2020]: $619 million

Operating Income [2020]: $61.9 million

Debt Value: 2%

Ruben Dias of Manchester City bring down Mohamed Salah of Liverpool in action the penalty box during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield on February 07, 2021 in Liverpool, England.

6. Manchester City

Manchester, England

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Value: $4 billion

Two-Year Change: 49%

Revenue [2020]: $609 million

Operating Income [2020]: -$2 million

Debt Value: 0%

Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester Cityruns with the ball during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final match between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund at Etihad Stadium on April 06, 2021 in Manchester, England.

7. Chelsea

London, England

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Roman Abramovich

Value: $3.2 billion

Two-Year Change: 24%

Revenue [2020]: $520 million

Operating Income [2020]: $34.7 million

Debt Value: 0%

8. Arsenal

London, England

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: E. Stanley Kroenke

Value: $2.8 billion

Two-Year Change: 23%

Revenue [2020]: $430 million

Operating Income [2020]: $47.3 million

Debt Value: 7%

9. Paris Saint-Germain

Paris, France

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Qatar Sports Investments

Value: $2.5 billion

Two-Year Change: 129%

Revenue [2020]: $599 million

Operating Income [2020]: -$4.5 million

Debt Value: 0%

Neymar Jr of Paris Saint-Germain in action with Mauro Icardi during the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Montpellier HSC at Parc des Princes on January 22, 2021 in Paris, France.

10. Tottenham Hotspur

London, England

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Joseph Lewis, Daniel Levy

Value: $2.3 billion

Two-Year Change: 42%

Revenue [2020]: $494 million

Operating Income: $134.2 million

Debt Value: 39%

11. Juventus

Turin, Italy

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Agnelli family

Value: $1.95 billion

Two-Year Change: 29%

Revenue [2020]: $441 million

Operating Income: -$14 million

Debt Value: 16%

Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus on the ball during the Serie A match between Juventus and Napoli at Allianz Stadium on April 07, 2021 in Turin, Italy.

12. Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund, Germany

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Bernd Geske, Evonik Industries

Value: $1.9 billion

Two-Year Change: 112%

Revenue [2020]: $405 million

Operating Income: $15.1 million

Debt Value: 0%

13. Atlético de Madrid

Madrid, Spain

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Miguel Gil, Enrique Cerezo

Value: $1 billion

Two-Year Change: 5%

Revenue [2020]: $368 million

Operating Income: $61.7 million

Debt Value: 26%

14. Inter Milan

Milan, Italy

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Zhang Jindong, LionRock Capital

Value: $743 million

Two-Year Change: 11%

Revenue [2020]: $323 million

Operating Income: $13.1 million

Debt Value: 8%

15. Everton

Liverpool, England

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Farhad Moshiri

Value: $658 million

Two-Year Change: 38%

Revenue [2020]: $235 million

Operating Income: $15 million

Debt Value: 0%

16. AC Milan

Milan, Italy

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Elliott Management

Value: $559 million

Two-Year Change: -4%

Revenue [2020]: $165 million

Operating Income: -$92.4 million

Debt Value: 4%

Zlatan Ibrahimovic of AC Milan looks on during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg match between AC Milan and Manchester United at San Siro on March 18, 2021 in Milan, Italy.

17. AS Roma

Rome, Italy

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Dan Friedkin

Value: $548 million

Two-Year Change: -12%

Revenue [2020]: $156 million

Operating Income: -$108.4 million

Debt Value: 56%

18. West Ham United

London, England

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: David Sullivan, David Gold

Value: $508 million

Two-Year Change: -18%

Revenue [2020]: $175 million

Operating Income: -$24.2 million

Debt Value: 18%

19. Leicester City

Leicester, England

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Khun Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha

Value: $455 million

Two-Year Change: NR

Revenue [2020]: $189 million

Operating Income: -$49.3 million

Debt Value: 17%

20. Ajax

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Owner/Controlling Shareholder: Club members

Value: $413 million

Two-Year Change: NR

Revenue [2020]: $172 million

Operating Income: $1.7 million

Debt Value: 11%

Methodology

The revenues and operating income listed are for the 2019-2020 season, converted to U.S. dollars based on average exchange rates during that season [1 euro = $1.108, 1 GBP = $1.261]. Proceeds from lending players to other teams were excluded from revenue. Team values are enterprise values [equity plus net debt] andinclude the economics of the team's stadium but exclude the value of the real estate. Operating income is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, player trading and disposal of player registrations. Debt is interest-bearing borrowings [including stadium debt]. NR indicates a team was not ranked two years ago.

Credits BANNER PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES, ILLUSTRATIONS BY FORBES

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