Forbes has compiled its annual list of the 30 most valuable sports clubs in the world. Real Madrid continues to hold the top spot and PSG is the fastest growing club in the sport and is only matched by Golden State Warriors among sporting organisations worldwide.
As for the Los Blancos, Forbes notes that two teams are now worth at least $6 billion. Real Madrid comes in first place with a valuation of $6.07 billion, up 19 per cent from last year.
“The Spanish team has reached five of the last nine lucrative Champions League finals, winning them all. Real Madrid has also secured nearly $400m from Sixth Street and Legends as part of a 20-year deal to increase revenues at its Santiago Bernabeu stadium, which has undergone a massive renovation that is expected to be completed next year,” the report notes.
The 30 most valuable football teams in the world are worth an average of $2.17 billion. A year ago, the top 20 teams had an average valuation of $2.53 billion. By contrast, this year’s top 20 most valuable teams have an average value of $2.89 billion, up 14%.
It should be noted according to Forbes those values were not driven by revenues, which increased by only 2.5%, to an average of $496 million per team, but rather by the higher enterprise multiples (enterprise value divided by revenues) that buyers are paying for the teams.
Forbes points out that Manchester United, second on the list, could soon be sold for around 6 billion dollars, 7.7 times its revenue. A Qatar-backed bid is one of two competing for the club.
New investor in PSG
As for PSG, which remains in the top 10 and climbs to seventh place, Forbes notes that Paris Saint-Germain is likely to raise money soon in a minority sale that will value the team at more than $4 billion, some 5.7 times its revenues.
