Red Devils rise to second on MoneyLeague table2015-01-22 08:58

Red Devils rise to second on Money
League table
2015-01-22 08:58

London - Manchester United became the world's
second highest-earning club last season despite a
disastrous campaign on the pitch, financial
consultants Deloitte revealed in their latest Football
Money League published on Thursday.
The 2013/14 season was United's first since the
retirement of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson
and saw them slump to a seventh-place finish in
the English Premier League, with Ferguson's
successor David Moyes losing his job.
It meant United missed out on a place in the
Champions League, but revenues of €518 million
saw them climb to second place behind Real
Madrid in the list of world football's top-earning
clubs.
"Despite a poor on-pitch season in 2013-14,
United's commercial strategy of securing global and
regional partners is delivering substantial growth,"
said Deloitte senior manager Austin Houlihan.
"Commercial revenue has grown 83 percent in the
last three years. Thanks to the latest Premier
League media deals, broadcast revenue also
increased 34 percent to €162.3 million.
"Their absence this season from European
competition will be felt in next year's Money League
position, but if they can return to the Champions
League in 2015-16 there is a strong possibility
they could be top in two years' time."
With revenues of €549.5 million, Real Madrid
topped the chart for the 10th season running, after
a year in which they claimed their 10th Champions
League crown, known as 'La Decima'.
The club witnessed revenue growth of €30.6
million due to increases of €15.9 million in
broadcast revenue and €19.9 million in commercial
revenue.
The other clubs in the top 10 were Bayern
Munich, Barcelona, who slipped from second place
to fourth, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City,
Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Juventus.
Overall, revenue for the top 20 highest-earning
clubs reached €6.2 billion, which represented a 14
percent rise on the previous year.
"The growth experienced within the top 20 has
been remarkable," said Dan Jones from Deloitte's
Sports Business Group.
"Although only Manchester United and Real
Madrid have gone past the €500 million revenue
marker so far, we predict that all of the top five
clubs may reach that point by next year."
Bumper broadcast rights deals meant that there
were eight clubs from the money-spinning Premier
League in the top 20, with all 20 teams who
competed in the English top flight last season
making it into the top 40.
"The fact that all the clubs in the Premier League
are in the top 40 is testament to the huge appeal
of the league globally and also the equality of the
distributions the clubs enjoy relative to their
European counterparts," explained Houlihan.
"Additionally, the Premier League is currently
negotiating for the next cycle of media rights and
further uplifts are anticipated."
Turkish giants Galatasaray, ranked 18th, were the
only team from outside Europe's traditional 'top five'
leagues - Spain, England, Germany, Italy and
France - to feature in the top 40.