United had held top spot since business analyst Forbes started compiling the list in 2004 but have been overtaken by Real.Real Madrid has been consistently delivering the highest revenues of any soccer team in the world, despite an intense economic meltdown in Spain. With superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch, and coach Jose Mourinho on the bench, Real Madrid has thrived under the leadership of billionaire president Florentino Perez.Barcelona are in third place and Arsenal fourth ahead of Bayern Munich in fifth place.Forbes' team values are enterprise values (equity plus debt) that are based on multiples of revenue that teams garner from television, premium seating, media, licensing, merchandise and concessions.Real Madrid are valued at £2.15billion (3.3billion US dollars), making the Spanish club the most valuable sports franchise in the world, and United at £2.07billion.According to this year's soccer valuations, the top 20 teams are worth an average of 968million dollars (£634m), an increase of 26% over last year.Forbes said in a statement: "This is the first time since Forbes began valuing soccer teams in 2004 that Manchester United is not No.1 on the list.
No comments:
Post a Comment