Football Clubs’ Valuation is an analysis undertaken by the Football Benchmark team of KPMG’s Sports Advisory Practice that provides an indication of the enterprise value (EV) of prominent European football clubs as at 1 January 2017.
After having shared first place with Real Madrid CF last year, Manchester United FC stand clearly at the top of our 2017 ranking. Enjoying a 7% EV increase, the Red Devils outstrip Los Blancos (who had a 2% growth) by more than EUR 100 million. They are the first club to surpass the EUR 3 billion threshold; in fact, despite missing UEFA Champions League qualification at the end of the 2015/16 campaign, Manchester United FC continue to achieve consistent off-the-pitch performance. Also in this year’s edition, the top four are the only clubs above the EUR 2 billion landmark: in third position, FC Barcelona have confirmed their ranking, showing no significant EV increase year-on-year, while FC Bayern München’s 14% increase narrows the gap with the Catalans.
The Top 10 clubs comprise more than two-thirds of the overall EV; within this group, Manchester City FC have overtaken Arsenal FC in 5th position. Furthermore, the strength of the English Premier League, combined with their good operating and financial results, allows London side Tottenham Hotspur FC to oust Paris Saint-Germain FC from the 10th position, thus increasing the number of English teams in this top ranking to six, together with two Spanish, one German and one Italian. While Les Parisiens show stable improvement in almost all the parameters taken into account in our valuation (which led to an 18% EV increase), Spurs are displaying a significant upward trend, especially in terms of profitability and squad value, as demonstrated by a higher EV growth (26%). The future looks bright for Tottenham Hotspur FC, as they plan to move to a new multipurpose stadium, and as they have recently secured UEFA Champions League qualification for the second year in a row.
The three clubs topping our ranking represent approximately 30% of the cumulative EV of all shortlisted clubs. Here’s the Full Report.