Madrid Are Top European Footy Brand

The fact that there are eight Premiership sides in the top 20 underlines the financial and marketing clout of English football. Such enduring strength is one of the reasons that, with four Premiership sides in the last eight of the UEFA Champions League, we look odds on to have an English team reach the final for the fourth season in a row. The relative failure of many Italian and German clubs to exploit the power of their brand is one of the reasons they are finding it harder to compete in Europe.

By Citizen Correspondent Sir Stephen

Date Posted: 03/27/08

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They have been derided as the prawn sandwich brigade and blamed for the apathy that leads to silent encounters between top teams, but corporate guests pouring in money from the comfort of their executive boxes are helping to make English clubs the richest in the world.

Real Madrid is Europe's most valuable football brand worth a total of £271m which is an increase of 7% on last year, according to a new study released by Champions magazine today.

Independent consultancy experts Brand Finance have used 'market share, market growth and company financials' to draw up the list. The top five, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool top the one billion pound mark.

The top twenty includes nine British teams, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, West Ham, Celtic and Manchester City.

The full list in terms of brand value is:
1) Real Madrid - £271m
2) Manchester United - £264m
3) Barcelona - £215m
4) Arsenal - £201m
5) Chelsea - £184m
6) Liverpool - £165m
7) Bayern Munich - £147m
8) Milan - £134m
9) Juventus - £95m
10) Internazionale - £84m
11) Tottenham Hotspur - £81m
12) Roma - £59m
13) Newcastle United - £55m
14) Hamburg - £52m
15) Schalke 04 - £48m
16) Lyon - £48m
17) Benfica - £44m
18) West Ham United - £41m
19) Celtic - £36m
20) Manchester City - £33m

The study also breaks down the different stream of revenue for the top clubs. AC Milan tops the broadcasting revenue table with £103m followed by Real Madrid (£90m) Internatizionale (£86m) Barcelona (£72m) Roma (£70m).

Arsenal lead the matchday revenues with £103m followed by Manchester United (£93m) Chelsea (£74m) Barcelona (£60m) Real Madrid (£54m).

Real Madrid come out on top of the commercial list with revenue of £92m followed by Bayern Munich (£72m) Barcelona (£62m) Chelsea (£57m) Manchester United (£57m).

Champions magazine editor, Paul Simpson said: "The fact that there are eight Premiership sides in the top 20 underlines the financial and marketing clout of English football.