LONDON: Consultancy firm KPMG Thursday released the European Elite 2020 report, which places Real Madrid — for the second consecutive year — as the most valuable football club in the world.
Real Madrid is valued at €3.478 billion, which puts them ahead of Manchester United and FC Barcelona. The club’s enterprise value annual has risen by 8%.
The report, published on Thursday, puts Manchester United in second despite its on-pitch struggles in the Premier League, while Real’s domestic rivals Barcelona have retaken third place from Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
The LaLiga giants are valued at €3.478 billion, which sees the club come in ahead of Manchester United (€3.342 billion) and Barcelona (€3.193 billion) in the ranking.
Real Madrid’s annual enterprise value has increased by 8%.
The report notes that Real Madrid’s position at the summit owes to the high revenues figures recorded throughout the five years that the study relates to (2016-2020), after having lifted the Champions League three times during this period, as well as the club’s improved profitability and a 41% aggregate growth in commercial revenue.
The fifth annual report ranks clubs based on their “enterprise value”, a metric created by analysing profitability, popularity, sporting potential, TV rights and stadium ownership to January 1, 2020.
Borussia Dortmund and Schalke also represent the Bundesliga in the top 15 while there are nine Premier League clubs, seven Spanish and six Italian sides in the top 32.
Liverpool climbed to fifth place, while Arsenal dropped to 10th position.
For the first time since the report was first published in 2016, no Italian side is among the top 10, with Juventus having fallen to 11th spot.
Overall, the enterprise value of the 32 clubs has increased for the fourth consecutive year, with the average EV of these clubs having grown by 51%.
That means the impact of the coronavirus pandemic was not considered.
“Club values have certainly been affected,” wrote Andrea Sartori, global head of sport at KPMG. “But the immediate impact cannot yet be quantified.”
Earlier this month, Germany’s Bundesliga became the first major football league in Europe to resume after a two-month break, despite many fans opposing the resumption of the season.
Football faces losing many clubs to bankruptcy because of the coronavirus pandemic, a club recently executive warned.
