Spanish giants Real Madrid generated a record-breaking £723 million in revenue from the 2022-2023 season to rise to the top of the 2024 edition of the Deloitte Football Money League.
It was a record-breaking year in terms of revenue for football clubs in the 2022-2023 season. The £9.2 billion generated by the 20 clubs all together on the list was a 14 per cent increase from the £7.8 billion revenue figure from the previous edition of the Money League.
Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte's Sports Business Group, touched on these figures from the last season, commenting: "Another record-breaking year for Money League clubs represents the ongoing financial might of the football industry."
Liverpool, West Ham United and Atletico Madrid were the only clubs included in the Money League's top 20 spots to witness a decrease in revenue from the season before.
The newest leaders, Real Madrid, saw a revenue increase of £118.5 million from the previous season and subsequently overtook last year's number-one club in the Money League, Manchester City, as the Premier League side fell to second spot.
It marks Real Madrid's return to the top of the Money League for the first time since the 2019 edition, as the previous four releases have seen the club placed in second spot. This financial success comes despite the club winning neither La Liga nor the UEFA Champions League last season.
Largely to do with Real Madrid's financial growth was the higher attendance during home matches as COVID-19 restrictions eased. Also, the club's large income in the retail sector was another major factor in the revenue increasing by 16 per cent.
Manchester City were unable to hold onto the top position despite having a record-breaking campaign themselves, in both sporting and revenue avenues. Pep Guardiola's side had a remarkable 2022-2023 season, collecting the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, with the club generating a revenue of £718.2 million from the campaign.
Despite dropping to the second spot, Manchester City will be delighted with its financial growth as the latest revenue figure was an increase of £99.1 million from the 2021-2022 season.
One area where Manchester City could improve its revenue figures in order to return to the top of the Money League is from its matchday earnings.
Tim Bridge explains: "City's match-day revenue is £71m. But the question is how they can kick over the €100m revenue marker, which is the threshold of clubs with innovative new stadiums. Real Madrid and Barcelona will be way over that figure in the future, and Tottenham are significantly over it now."
Behind Manchester City in third place is Paris Saint Germain, who jumped up from the fifth spot thanks to a revenue amount of £697.2 million for the last campaign. This is a 23 per cent jump and marks the first time the Ligue 1 side has broken into the top three of the Money League.
Barcelona climbed up three places from the last edition and now sits in the fourth spot after generating £695.8 million in revenue from the 2022-2023 season. The revenue figure is an incredible 25 per cent increase from the season before and is largely down to a significant increase in commercial and matchday revenue.
Manchester United fell one spot to fifth position as an increase of eight per cent in revenue up to £648.5 million was not enough to prevent a drop in ranking. Bayern Munich kept its position in sixth place after generating revenue figures of £647 million.
Liverpool had the biggest year-by-year drop as the club's latest revenue figure of £593.8 million is a £0.5 million loss from the previous season and meant the club fell from third to seventh in the Money League.
The revenue fall is attributed to Liverpool's decline in performances last season as Jurgen Klopp's side finished fifth in the Premier League and exited the Champions League in the round of 16 stage. This was a major drop-off from 2021-2022, as the club finished second in the Premier League and got to three cup finals that season.
Therefore, Liverpool's revenue streams from the 2022-2023 season in the broadcasting and matchday sectors fell significantly as there were lesser amounts of matches for supporters to attend and for broadcasters to televise.
Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal rounded out the top 10 with revenues of £549.2 million, £512.5 million and £463.1 million, respectively.
Newcastle United and West Ham United are placed 17th and 18th on the rankings, respectively, with revenues of £250.3 million and £239.2 million. The financial performances of the two clubs mean the Premier League has eight representatives in the top 20 of the 2024 Money League, the most out of any domestic league.
Other clubs rounding out the rest of the top 20 positions include Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid. Eintracht Frankfurt, Napoli and Marseille were the clubs that broke into the top 20 for this latest Money League edition.
