REAL MADRID
Real Madrid eclipse City in top European football income ranking for 22/23
A UEFA report shows that the Santiago Bernabeu side generated the highest level of all European clubs for the 2022-2023 season.
After the recent Deloitte financial report on football, now it’s UEFA’s turn to reaffirm Real Madrid’s financial clout in the European club panorama. The European Club Finance and Investment Landscape Report report published by the governing body on Thursday shows the Spanish side having generated the highest level of income in European football for the 2022-2023 season. UEFA estimates Madrid’s income last season to be at €841 million with the LaLiga side edging out second placed Manchester City with only two other teams exceeding 800 million in revenue: they are Barça (€815 million) and PSG (€807 million).
In total, the 132 clubs analyzed by UEFA saw their income grow by 13% with the Premier League leading the way with the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle, West Ham and Brighton, in addition to City all appearing in lofty positions in the report. The power of the English competition is evident with total income as a league, estimated in this case at 6.5 billion euros. A volume of business that equals what LaLiga (€3,300 M) and the Bundesliga (€3,200 M) jointly generate.
The value of audiovisual rights are instrumental in making a difference with 18 of the 20 clubs that earned the most of television are from the Premier League and only Real Madrid and Barça disrupt this dominance.
The UEFA report also highlights Real Madrid’s efforts to contain spending to guarantee the club’s sustainability. Although it is first in income, the white club is fifth in the highest salaries paid listing.
The club paid its players 320 million euros last season, 31% less than the previous year, in which Ancelotti’s team won the Champions League and domestic league title. The team that spends the most on salaries is PSG, with €529 million, followed by Barcelona (€505 million) and Manchester City (€389 million).
A recent study by Deloitte (the Football Money League report prepared annually by the consulting firm) also placed Madrid as the club with the most income in European football.
Its methodology, however, lowered the Bernabeu club’s income to 831.4 million euros. Deloitte kept Manchester City second in the ranking (€825.9 million), but, unlike UEFA, it placed PSG in third place.