Interestingly, although perhaps not surprisingly, the £100.4 million reaped from matchday revenue is higher than any other club in European football, despite the fact we played two fewer games at the Emirates last season compared to the year before.
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Manchester United relinquished its second place to Barcelona, with the English side dropping to third place in the Deloitte Football Money League, published today.
Despite falling into third place this year, Manchester United has been tipped to top the Money League next year.
Manchester United are expected to overtake Real Madrid and Barcelona to become the world’s highest- earning football club over the next 12 months, despite their failure to progress to this season’s Champions League knockout stages.
The revenue of the world’s top 20 clubs, which are all in Europe and dominated by nine from the Premier League, grew 8 percent year-to-year to €6.6 billion ($7.2 billion). The taunts about Arsene Wenger’s sole ambition being to make the Top Four to generate more money for the club rather than actually trying to go the whole hog and win the League. The planned redevelopment of the Santiago Bernabeu will help to continue the growth in matchday income in the coming years. Deloitte said it would “not be surprised” to see United top the Money League next year thanks to the return of UEFA Champions League football to Old Trafford in the 2015-16 season.
Meanwhile, West Ham was a new entrant at number 20, making the top 20 for the first time since 2005-06. Real Madrid once again delivered a strong financial performance, buoyed by growth in their commercial revenue.
During 2014-15, “Los Blancos” raked in $628.3 million in revenue, narrowly ahead of bitter La Liga rival Barcelona who came in second with $610.7 million.
Bridge said it would not be a surprise to see the English club usurp Real Madrid to take the top spot in next year’s Money League.
Tim Bridge, Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said: “It has been another good year financially for both Merseyside clubs”.
Arsenal climbed above Chelsea to seventh place, with the Premier League champions’ revenue falling from £324.4m to £319.5m, despite their title triumph. (9) Liverpool (ENG) 391.8 (305.9) 10.
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But it was below that where some of the most remarkable movements were witnessed, with Leicester City surging from outside the top 40 into 24th place, above Sunderland, Swansea City and Stoke City. Their €160.9m revenue increased from €139.3m and bodes well before next season’s move to the Olympic Stadium.
