If you are a soccer fan, then this list of the top wealthiest soccer teams in 2014 is for you. But even if you are more keen on other sports, you fill find the countdown very interesting. Without a doubt, soccer is a very profitable business, but one which is relatively undiscovered in the U.S.
As a matter of fact, the most profitable sport teams in the country are baseball’s New York Yankees ($2.5 billion) and American football’s Dallas Cowboys ($2.3 billion). However, when it comes to soccer, a minor yet growing sport in America, Europe rules, without a doubt. So much so, that in this year’s list of the top wealthiest soccer teams in 2014, we can only find European clubs; at least in the 2013 ranking The Americas were represented by Corinthians, a Brazilian team.
Naturally, the sports industry as a whole is very profitable: basketball, football, baseball and soccer being the top team sports. On the other hand, tennis is the solo (or doubles) sport that brings in the big bucks for its players. If you want to know more about the tennis business just check out our list of the Top 10 Best Paid Tennis Stars in the World and see for yourself just how much money is involved in this sport.
Now, coming back to our present countdown, you should know that it is based on the data published by Forbes magazine last July. But some time after that article was published, Wall Street revealed, and Forbes later agreed, that the shares of Manchester United surged almost 5% after the team announced its kit deal with Adidas, worth $130 million a year. Naturally, this altered the list significantly, as you will later see. On the other hand, there are some new surprises in the 2014 countdown of the 20 richest soccer teams worldwide: a Turkish club made the cut for the first time in history, and there’s a new French team on the list as well (spoiler alert: the French teams that were on last year’s list didn’t make it to the top 20 this year.)
Before going into the list, you should know that the team values taken into account are enterprise values based on the current stadium deals. So, eager to get to know which are the top wealthiest soccer teams in 2014? Well, here’s the opulent countdown!
20. Napoli
Country: Italy
Value: $296 million
Revenue: $156 million
Last year’s ranking: 17th
19. Roma
Country: Italy
Value: $307 million
Revenue: $162 million
Last year’s ranking: –
18. Hamburg
Country: Germany
Value: $326 million
Revenue: $176 million
Last year’s ranking: 18th
17. Atlético Madrid
Country: Spain
Value: $328 million
Revenue: $156 million
Last year’s ranking: –
16. Galatasaray
Country: Turkey
Value: $347 million
Revenue: $204 million
Last year’s ranking: –
15. Paris Saint-Germain
Country: France
Value: $415 million
Revenue: $518 million
Last year’s ranking: –
14. Internazionale
Country: Italy
Value: $483 million
Revenue: $219 million
Last year’s ranking: 14th
13. Tottenham Hotspur
Country: England
Value: $514 million
Revenue: $224 million
Last year’s ranking: 11th
12. Schalke 04
Country: Germany
Value: $580 million
Revenue: $258 million
Last year’s ranking: 12th
11. Borussia Dortmund
Country: Germany
Value: $599 million
Revenue: $333 million
Last year’s ranking: 13th
10. Liverpool
Country: England
Value: $704 million
Revenue: $313 million
Last year’s ranking: 10th
9. Juventus
Country: Italy
Value: $850 million
Revenue: $354 million
Last year’s ranking: 8th
8. Milan
Country: Italy
Value: $856 million
Revenue: $343 million
Last year’s ranking: 6th
7. Manchester City
Country: England
Value: $863 million
Revenue: $411 million
Last year’s ranking: 9th
6. Chelsea
Country: England
Value: $868 million
Revenue: $394 million
Last year’s ranking: 7th
5. Arsenal
Country: England
Value: $1,331 million
Revenue: $370 million
Last year’s ranking: 4th
4. Bayern Munich
Country: Germany
Value: $1,850 million
Revenue: $561 million
Last year’s ranking: 5th
3. Barcelona
Country: Spain
Value: $3,200 million
Revenue: $627 million
Last year’s ranking: 3rd
2. Real Madrid
Country: Spain
Value: $3,440 million
Revenue: $675 million
Last year’s ranking: 1st
1. Manchester United
Country: England
Value: $ 3,600 million
Revenue: $613 million
Last year’s ranking: 2nd
