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SOCCER BUSINESS

The world’s 50 most valuable soccer clubs revealed: Manchester United, Real Madrid, Premier League, MLS…

The ranking, put together by sports business experts Sportico, is dominated by European, Premier League and MLS clubs.

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Manchester United is the most valuable club in the world, according to Sportico's analysis.
DAVID KLEINREUTERS

A list of the world’s 50 most valuable soccer clubs has been published by Sportico and provided some fascinating insight about the sport across the globe. The digital platform, which focuses on the sports industry from a business viewpoint, ranked Premier League club Manchester United as number one at $5.95 billion, closely followed by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. The list highlights a number of trends within soccer, some of which will be more surprising than others.

Only three confederations represented

Clubs from only three confederations - UEFA (Europe), Concacaf (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) and Conmebol (South America) - appear in the ranking, with AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa) and OFC (Oceania) not represented by a single club.

Even amongst those that do feature, European (29) and Concacaf (20) clubs dominate, with only one team from South America making the top 50 (Flamengo from Brazil are all way down in 46th, valued at $540).

More than half of MLS make the top 50

18 of the 50 clubs in the ranking come from MLS, making it the most represented league, well ahead of even the Premier League, which has only nine.

Several of the US-based teams are no more than five years old, including Charlotte FC (40th), FC Cincinnati (44th) and Austin FC (32nd). By contrast, a number of the others on the list have been in existence for well over a century, such as 139-year-old Leicester City (45th) and 145-year-old Everton (34th). The highest ranked MLS club is Los Angeles FC, who are 16th with a value of $900 million.

The remaining 27 spots are filled by clubs from Serie A (seven), LaLiga (four), the Bundesliga (four), Ligue 1 (two), the Primeria Liga in Portugal (two), Liga MX (two), the Eredivise in the Netherlands (one) and, as mentioned, the Brasileirao (one).

South America represented by Flamengo

Flamengo is the only South American team to make the list, with other Brazilian ‘giants’ such as Vasco da Gama, Palmeiras, Fluminense, Corinthians, Grêmio and International all absent. Argentina may be World Cup holders but none of their clubs (not even Boca Juniors or River Plate) are amongst the world’s 50 most valuable, according to the study, which was carried out based on various criteria. All, therefore, are worth less than $525 million.

Two Liga MX clubs make the list

Mexico and Liga MX fare marginally better than the entire continent of South America, with two of its clubs featuring. Club América ($735 million) squeeze in between Roma and Seattle Sounders as the highest valued Mexican club in 21st spot. Not too far behind Las Águilas are Guadalajara in 26th, valued at $695 million.

UEFA/European dominance

It probably won’t come as much of a shock, but the Sportico ranking proves that ‘elite-level’ club soccer is in Europe. The top 15 is made up of only UEFA-member clubs, with LAFC next on the list, just below Champions League semi-finalists Milan and Inter. The Premier League dominates right at the top, with six clubs (Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea) inside the top 10.

RankingClub2023 Valuation2021-22 revenue
1Manchester United$5.95 billion$776 million
2Real Madir$5.23 billion$815 million
3Barcelona$4.95 billion$710 million
4Liverpool$4.71 billion$790 million
5Bayern Munich$4.46 billion$739 million
6Manchester City$4.43 billion$815 million
7Arsenal$3.6 billion$491 million
8Chelsea$3.47 billion$640 million
9Paris Saint-Germain$3.41 billion$757 million
10Tottenham Hotspur$3.19 billion$590 million
11Juventus$1.73 billion$453 million
12Borussia Dortmund$1.61 billion$403 million
13Atlético Madrid$1.56 billion$470 million
14Milan$1.2 billion$299 million
15Inter$1.11 billion$348 million
16LAFC$900 million$100 million
17LA Galaxy$865 million$98 million
18Atlanta United$855 million$103 million
19Lyon$825 million$181 million
20Roma$765 million$216 million
21Club América$735 million$125 million
22Seattle Sounders$725 million$66 million
23Ajax$710 million$214 million
24Toronto FC$705 million$64 million
25DC United$700 million$59 million
26Guadalajara$695 million$120 million
27New York City FC$690 million$55 million
28Napoli$690 million$173 million
29Portland Timbers$685 million$65 million
30West Ham$665 million$336 million
31Benfica$640 million$222 million
32Austin FC$630 million$78 million
33RB Leipzig$610 million$292 million
34Everton$600 million$600 million
35Porto$590 million$163 million
36Atalanta$585 million$191 million
37Inter Miami$585 million$54 million
38Sporting Kansas City$575 million$60 million
39Eintracht Frankfurt$575 million$238 million
40Charlotte FC$570 million$71 million
41Minnesota United$565 million$54 million
42Colombus Crew$560 million$55 million
43Philadelphia Union$555 million$48 million
44FC Cincinnati$550 million$65 million
45Leicester City$545 million$545 million
46Flamengo$540 million$205 million
47Chicago Fire$535 million$32 million
48Sevilla$535 million$210 million
49Lazio$530 million$153 million
50New York Red Bulls$525 million$50 million