Piling on: United fall out of top-three highest-earning clubs

Accountancy firm Deloitte released on Thursday its figures for highest-earning clubs in world football for the 2012/13 season, with Real Madrid and Barcelona Nos 1 and 2. Manchester United fell behind Bayern Munich to fourth.

LONDON // Real Madrid and Barcelona are soccer’s biggest moneymakers for the fifth straight year, and Manchester United lost its place among the top three biggest-earning clubs for the first time.

United, who are enduring a lacklustre season under new manager David Moyes, dropped to fourth behind European champions Bayern Munich in the Football Money League compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte.

The biggest growth in 2012/13 was at Paris Saint-Germain, which went from 10th to fifth as the club’s global profile was enhanced by David Beckham’s four-month spell with the Ligue 1-winning team.

Madrid stayed on top for the ninth straight year after revenue rose slightly to $703 million (Dh2.58b). Spanish rival Barcelona had revenues of $654 million.

“Real Madrid remain firmly at the top of the Money League, even though the club experienced a trophy-less end to the 2012/13 season,” said Dan Jones, a partner in the sports business group at Deloitte.

“Despite tough economic conditions, particularly within Spain, the club’s ability to generate substantial commercial revenue both domestically and internationally is central to their success.

“This helped widen the gap to their nearest rivals in the Money League, Barcelona, to ($56 million). Both Spanish clubs enjoy substantial revenue from individually negotiated broadcast deals, which is key in contributing to their overall revenue advantage over their European peers.”

In Germany, Bayern’s income jumped 17 per cent to $584 million as the German club won the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup.

United’s growth was slower – 13 per cent to $602 million – as the team collected the Premier League title before manager Alex Ferguson retired in May.

“It is the first time Manchester United have dropped out of the top three but Bayern had an exceptional year,” Jones said. “Next year United will have the Chevrolet (shirt sponsorship) deal plus other new commercial deals in their figures, and the new Premier League TV deal so we are confident they will be back in the top three.”

But in the Premier League, United are seventh, 14 points behind leader Arsenal, with a fight to secure one of the four Champions League spots.

“The longer term depends in part what happens on the pitch and if they do not qualify for next season’s Champions League that is probably worth ($67 million) directly in terms of money from TV and attendances at Old Trafford,” Jones said.

Deloitte revealed details of clubs yet to publish their 2012/13 accounts, including two of the biggest spending clubs, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, who face a challenge complying with Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations. The Gulf-owned teams have benefited from sponsorship deals related to their owners.

Income at Qatar-owned PSG soared by 180 per cent to $540 million as they won the French title for the first time in 19 years.

“We expect to see them become a mainstay in the top five in years to come, backed by their ambitious Qatari owners and strong commercial support,” said Austin Houlihan of Deloitte.

“The high-profile signing of David Beckham in the second half of the 2012/13 season only served to enhance the club’s worldwide profile. Importantly, commercial success off the pitch is translating into improved on-pitch performance for the club.”

Man City’s turnover increased by 17 per cent to $449 million despite the team, owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, failing to win a trophy last season.

Two Premier League rivals are directly below City, with Chelsea seeing turnover drop slightly to $431 million and Arsenal’s rising to $404 million.