Real is top soccer moneymaker for 10th year; Man United 2nd
LONDON (AP) - Real Madrid is soccer's biggest moneymaker for the 10th straight year, while Manchester United has risen to second in the rankings by maintaining commercial growth during its worst Premier League campaign.
In the Football Money League compiled by Deloitte, German champion Bayern Munich remained third but Barcelona dropped from second to fourth during a trophyless 2014.
In the 2013-2014 financial year, Real generated 549.5 million euros ($752 million based on June 30 exchange rates). United brought in 433.2 million pounds ($740 million on June 30), which equated to 518 million euros during the financial year. The current exchange rate would put United top on 570 million euros ($655 million).
Bayern generated 487.5 million euros ($667 million in June), Barcelona 484.6 million euros ($663 million in June) and Paris Saint-Germain 474.2 million euros ($650 million in June).
The revenue of the world's top 20 clubs, which are all European and dominated by eight from the Premier League, grew 14 percent year-to-year to 6.2 billion euros ($8.5 billion). The only team to feature from outside the five major leagues is Turkish champion Galatasaray in 18th place at 161.9 million euros ($222 million in June).
Although Real missed out on the Spanish title in 2013-14, the team won its 10th European title in May.
"The club's continued success on the field is complemented by its financial strength and their accomplishment emphasizes their position as the most successful European club side of all time," said Dan Jones, a partner in Deloitte's sports division.
But Real's supremacy is being threatened by Manchester United, despite a failure to qualify for any European tournaments.
"Despite a poor on-pitch season in 2013-14, United's commercial strategy of securing global and regional partners is delivering substantial growth," Deloitte senior manager Austin Houlihan said. "Commercial revenue has grown 83 percent in the last three years.
The growth in the value of Premier League television rights led to every team in the top division reporting record revenue in 2013-14, Deloitte said.