Despite the English Premier League’s growing supremacy, Real Madrid remains Europe’s most valuable football club, according to two expert studies released on Thursday.
Real Madrid came out on top with a valuation of 3.184 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in the Football Benchmark study, which assesses Europe’s 32 most virtual teams on their worth based on their yearly financial statements and judging squad valuations.
Honest, who will play Liverpool in the Champions League final on Saturday, won the report for the fourth year in a row.
Although the research points out that they were one of the few teams to record a net profit in both seasons touched by the virus, their worth in 2020, just before the outbreak, was approximately 3.5 billion euros.
Forbes rated Real first in a different survey, but with a value of $5.1 billion.
“Real Madrid’s advantage at the top has grown due to their continued sporting and commercial success,” said Andrea Sartori, author of the Football Benchmark study.
According to the report, Real lost 84 million euros due to a lack of matchday income due to fans being turned away due to the epidemic.
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Real, though, “made the best of the constraints by speeding up construction on the Bernabeu. It’ll be ready by the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023, and it’ll almost likely enhance their income and offer them a competitive edge.”
Manchester United (2.9 billion euros) and Barcelona (2.8 billion euros) finished third and fourth, respectively, with Bayern Munich and Liverpool in fifth and sixth place (2.556 billion euros).
Only four (Ajax, Galatasaray, Porto, and Benfica) of the 32 most valued clubs in the Football Benchmark research are outside the top five European leagues of England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and France.
When Premier League clubs are dominating in Europe, ten of the top 32 are English.
The paper notes that “what is propelling English clubs towards bigger European glory is their financial success.”
“The Premier League’s collective operational revenues of 5.1 billion euros put them comfortably at the top,” but “very remunerative TV deals” are “what truly sets them apart.”
Over the seven years since the inaugural Football Benchmark study, Paris Saint-Germain has grown in value by 153 per cent, to more than two billion euros.
Above all, according to the research, football is exhibiting evidence that the dip brought on by Covid is coming to an end.
“The negative effects of COVID-19 may still be seen in last year’s financial statistics, but the previous few months have shown encouraging indications of football returning to normal, most notably with crowds returning to stadiums and maintained healthy demand from sponsors and investors.”
According to Forbes, Barcelona was ranked second to Real with a worth of $5.1 billion, while Manchester United was ranked third with a valuation of $4.6 billion.
Liverpool, Real’s Champions League final opponents, was valued at $4.45 billion by Forbes.
Forbes said that their team valuations were based on “similar transactions” and included “enterprise values (equity plus net debt) and include the economics of the club’s stadium (but ignore the value of the real estate itself).
