Premier League clubs dominate European football rich list
Premier League clubs are dominating the rest of Europe in terms of wealth, according to Forbes annual football club rich list.
The business publication’s 13 annual rich list now ranks eight Premier League clubs in the top 20 with Manchester United and Arsenal making the top five with values of $3.32bn and $2.02bn respectively, ranking them third and fifth.
Real Madrid topped the list for the fourth consecutive year with $3.65bn while their La Liga rivals Barcelona were close on their heels with a value of $3.56bn and Bayern Munich’s value of $2.68 saw them ranked fourth.
Arsenal’s jump from seventh to fifth cames at the expense of Manchester City who have dropped to sixth and are currently valued at $1.92bn.
Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea came in seventh ($1.66bn) ahead of Europa League finalists Liverpool ($1.55bn) while Tottenham rounded off the top ten. The other two Premier League clubs who made the list were seventeenth placed West Ham ($542m) and number 20 ranked Newcastle ($383m).
The dominance of Premier League clubs is unsurprising given the huge broadcast deals which league bosses have struck with Sky and BT Sport and the high level of sponsorship activity which the likes Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City have been involved in.
The clean rebrand of the Premier League will give its member clubs greater freedom to pursue more sponsorship dealings and could see English clubs further dominate Europe's rich list.