Despite the fact that English Premier league side, Manchester United did not finish within the top four in the Premier League, they are ranked as the most valuable club in Europe, according to KPMG, a global professional services firm.
In fact, Manchester United have been valued at €3.004 billion (£2.61bn), ahead of both Real Madrid (€2.895bn) and Barcelona (€2.688bn). They are the first club to surpass the EUR 3 billion threshold.
These facts are contained in the 2nd edition of the “Football Clubs’ Valuation: The European Elite 2017” report, which provides an indication of the Enterprise Value of the 32 most prominent European football clubs. With a combined Enterprise Value of EUR 29.9 billion, the aggregate value of Europe’s 32 leading clubs grew by 14 percent in comparison to last season.
Andrea Sartori, KPMG’s Global Head of Sports and the report’s author, commented:
“The aggregate value of Europe’s 32 leading football clubs suggests that the overall value of football, as an industry, has grown. While this is partially explained by football’s broadcasting boom, the internationalization of the clubs’ commercial operations, their investment into privately-owned and modern facilities, and overall more sustainable management practices, are also key reasons for this growth.”
Sartori continued:
“In terms of media rights value, the English Premier League sits comfortably at the top of European leagues, although other major leagues have outlined well-defined strategies to compete for the attention of global fans. However, unlike other factors, individual club’s ability to influence their broadcasting income is often limited, despite the very evident impact this revenue stream has on their Enterprise Value.”
In 2017, English Premier League clubs dominated the ranking, accounting once again for approximately 40 percent of the aggregate Enterprise Value. Moreover, as a result of the broadcasting agreement which has started this season, their position is expected to be even more prominent in next year’s report.
This year 10 clubs were valued in excess of EUR 1 billion, two more than in 2016, with Juventus FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC being the new entrants in this elite group, the latter ousting Paris Saint-Germain FC from the 10th position.
Another remarkable change in the top-third of the table is Manchester City FC’s move to the fifth position, being valued at EUR 1.9 billion and surpassing Arsenal FC.
The foundation of this report is an analysis of the latest publicly available financial statements for 39 European football clubs, of which the top 32 by EV are selected for the purpose of this publication. Thus, it is important to note that this analysis does not consider the business and sporting results achieved by each club in the 2016/17 football season
The proprietary algorithm developed by KPMG and applied for the purposes of this report is consistent with the one applied last year. It is based on the Revenue Multiple approach, where each club’s revenues are multiplied by a specific multiple which takes five metrics into account—each one with a specific weight—expressing differences between clubs, the markets and the economies in which they operate
The world’s 15 most valuable football clubs:
1. Manchester United (€3.004bn)
2. Real Madrid (€2.895bn)
3. Barcelona (€2.688bn)
4. Bayern Munich (€2.367bn)
5. Manchester City (€1.909bn)
6. Arsenal (€1.882bn)
7. Chelsea (€1.524bn)
8. Liverpool (€1.260bn)
9. Juventus (€1.158bn)
10. Tottenham Hotspur (€978m)
11. Paris Saint-Germain (€948m)
12. Borussia Dortmund (€917m)
13. Atletico Madrid (€771m)
14. Schalke (€663m)
15. AC Milan (€504m)
To read the full report, click here.
