FC Bayern has defended its fourth place in the ranking of the most valuable football clubs in the world. However, a trend is increasingly putting the record champions in a difficult position.
The dominance of the top 5 leagues in Europe continues to increase. This is one of the findings of the latest report presented this Thursday by the football experts of the consulting group KPMG. Since 2016, the report has presented and compared the corporate values of Europe’s top clubs based on the five pillars of profitability, popularity, sporting potential, TV revenue and stadium ownership.
For the fourth year in a row, Real Madrid is the most valuable club in the world. After the previous year, which was overshadowed by the Corona pandemic, the Champions League finalist increased its value, as did the majority of the Top 32 shown. The royals increased their value by eight per cent to 3.184 billion euros.
Behind them, Manchester United (2.883 billion/+8 per cent) pushed FC Barcelona into third place. The value of the Catalans fell by two per cent to 2.814 after the financial turmoil of the recent past.
Liverpool and ManCity move closer to Bayern
Fourth remains FC Bayern, which according to KPMG calculations is now worth 2.749 billion euros, five per cent more than a year earlier. But: The pursuers are moving closer to the German subscription champions.
Both fifth-placed Liverpool FC (2.556 billion/+12 per cent) and sixth-placed Manchester City (2.483 billion/+14 per cent) recorded larger increases, reflecting a trend: because it weathered the pandemic better than its competitors, the Premier League is becoming increasingly dominant in European football. Ten of the 32 clubs in the ranking come from England, with West Ham United (16th) and Aston Villa (30th) newcomers compared to last year.
Frankfurt new, BVB slips a little, Schalke is out
The third newcomer in the ranking is Eintracht Frankfurt. The Europa League winner enters in 23rd place with an enterprise value of €428 million and is the third Bundesliga club in the top 32 alongside Bayern and Borussia Dortmund. BVB dropped one position despite a slight increase (+1 per cent) and is now 13th with €1.226 billion; Atletico Madrid moved past.
No longer represented alongside Olympique Marseille and Fenerbahce are Bundesliga returnees FC Schalke 04, who were still ranked 15th in 2021. The biggest increase was recorded by Serie A champions AC Milan, who moved into the top 15 with an increase of 35 per cent (578 million).
Only one quartet does not play in a top 5 league
After last year’s Corona-induced 15 per cent drop, the 32 most valuable clubs together posted an average increase of ten per cent, although their total of €37 billion fell short of the record set in 2020 (€39.7 billion). “Football is returning to normality,” says Andrea Sartori, head of KPMG’s sports division.
What is striking is that with Ajax Amsterdam, Galatasaray, FC Porto and Benfica Lisbon, only four representatives of the top 32 do not play in one of the top five European leagues. The dominance of the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 is thus greater than ever before. A whopping 96 per cent of the total company values in the Top 32 are accounted for by these five leagues.