Manchester United have toppled Real Madrid to become the most valuable football club in Europe, according to a valuation report from KPMG.
Manchester United have been revealed as the most valuable club in world football, according to a valuation report of football club conducted by KPMG. The valuation report places the Red Devils above Real Madrid with United becoming the first club to break the €3 billion valuation.
United have earned a valuation of £2.7 billion, closely followed by Real Madrid, who stand at £2.6 billion. Barcelona and Bayern Munich followed suit and were the only ones to hit the £2 billion mark. A big surprise, though, was the Premier League dominating the charts, with as many as six clubs in the top 10.
The firm used Enterprise Value as the method to rank the teams and compare what the teams are worth, regardless of the structure of the company used to finance operations. Also, the firm did not take into account any and all business and sporting performances and results achieved by the clubs in the 2016-17 season.
United’s EV saw an increase of 7% while Barcelona and Bayern Munich had their Enterprise Value calculated to be £2.41 and £2.13 billion respectively, while the biggest surprise came in the form of Manchester City, who managed to be fifth on the list with an EV of £1.73 billion.
The Citizens leapfrogged over the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Juventus to gain fifth while Tottenham capped off the top 10 with an EV of £0.88 billion.
Manchester United have become the first club in world football to be valued at over €3 billion ? pic.twitter.com/g5p8hGNFUz
— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 31, 2017
Andrea Sartori, the Global Head of Sports at KPMG and also the report’s author shed some light on Enterprise Value.
“The aggregate value of Europe’s 32 leading football clubs suggests that the overall value of football, as an industry, has grown.”
“While this is partially explained by football’s broadcasting boom, the internationalisation of the clubs’ commercial operations, their investment into privately-owned and modern facilities, and overall more sustainable management practices, are also key reasons for this growth.”
“In terms of media rights value, the English Premier League sits comfortably at the top of European leagues, although other major leagues have outlined well-defined strategies to compete for the attention of global fans.”
“However, unlike other factors, an individual club’s ability to influence their broadcasting income is often limited, despite the very evident impact this revenue stream has on their Enterprise Value.”
While United’s footballing stature may have dipped a bit in the post-Fergie era, Ed Woodward has done a remarkable job on the financial front and his excellence at financial operations seems to be finally paying dividend for the Red Devils.