Featured image credit: Bradley Rial
Real Madrid’s record-breaking financial year in 2023-24 has seen the LaLiga club retain top spot in the Deloitte Football Money League, with matchday revenues at the revamped Estadio Santiago Bernabéu contributing to the figures.
According to figures published by the Deloitte Sports Business Group, the top 20 revenue-generating clubs in world football made a record €11.2bn (£9.47bn/$11.67bn) in the 2023-24 season, marking a 6% increase on the previous campaign.
The average Money League club generated €560m, with matchday revenue contributing an average of €103m. Clubs generated an average of €244m in commercial revenue and €213m in broadcast revenue.
In July last year, Real Madrid claimed an operating income landmark of €1.073bn for the 2023-24 financial year. The club stated that breaking the one-billion-euro mark represented an “unprecedented figure for any football club”.
Deloitte has now confirmed that Real Madrid is the first club to surpass €1bn in revenue in a single season. The LaLiga club has retained top spot in the Money League ahead of Manchester City (€838m), Paris Saint-Germain (€806m), Manchester United (€771m) and Bayern Munich (€765m).
Real Madrid’s matchday revenues doubled to €248m in 2023-24 as the club started to reap the rewards of a large-scale redevelopment project at the Bernabéu. Although Manchester City placed second in the overall league, the club’s matchday revenue was just €88m – the smallest in the top 10.
PSG posted the second-highest matchday revenue figure (€171.1m), followed by Arsenal (€153.4m), Manchester United (€152.1m) and Liverpool (€132m). Bayern Munich, Tottenham and Barcelona all saw their matchday revenue top €100m, but Real Madrid was way ahead of the field.
Matchday revenue across Money League clubs grew by 11% year-on-year, making it the fastest-growing revenue stream once again. Deloitte pointed to increases in clubs’ stadium capacities, general ticket prices and premium matchday offerings. Some clubs in France and Germany were also boosted by hosting matches during the 2023 Rugby World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024, respectively.
For the first time in the history of the publication, matchday revenue surpassed €2bn and accounted for 18% of total revenue. This is the highest revenue share since 2014-15.
Commercial remained the largest revenue source for Money League clubs, with the €4.9bn figure accounting for 44% of total revenue. There was no uplift in the cumulative broadcast revenue figure of €4.3bn posted in 2023-24.
Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea completed the top 10 in the Money League. Barcelona fell to sixth in the table, in part driven by a €63m fall in matchday revenue as the club continues to play its matches at the smaller Estadi Olímpic while the Camp Nou is being redeveloped.
The clubs ranked from 11th to 20th are Borussia Dortmund, Atlético de Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Newcastle United, Juventus, West Ham United, Aston Villa, Olympique Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais. Juventus dropped from 11th to 16th, the club’s lowest position in Money League history, following an absence of European football in 2023-24.
Deloitte cited Liverpool and Lyon as examples of clubs that have benefited from infrastructure investments, which contributed to higher attendances and non-matchday events boosting matchday and commercial revenue, respectively.
For the third year, the Deloitte Football Money League has also profiled 15 of the top revenue-generating women’s clubs, which reported revenues of over €100m for the first time.
FC Barcelona Femení topped the table for the third consecutive year, generating €17.9m in revenue. Arsenal was a close second, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid rounding out the top five.
Tim Bridge, lead partner in the Deloitte Sports Business Group, said: “Money League clubs continue to break records with ongoing growth in commercial and matchday revenues. While on-pitch performance is critical for teams to reach the top echelons of the rankings, high performing clubs are also able to diversify the way they generate revenue through unlocking innovative partnerships and developing the land and stadium space that they own or operate.
“While commercial revenue dominates the income of the top ten Money League clubs, broadcast income remains crucial for teams in the second half of the rankings. As competitions expand and create more broadcast and matchday opportunities, these can further increase the earning potential for clubs. At a time where there is more demand than ever for a greater number of match days, this must be balanced with player welfare, as they ultimately bring the on-field success that can earn clubs many further rewards off-field.”
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