Manchester United, the most valuable football club: KPMG
According to the KPMG report, Manchester United have been named as the most valuable European football club. Despite a disappointing run in the past few seasons, the club was valued at €3 billion ($3.4 billion), ahead of the Spanish giants Real Madrid (€2.895 billion) and Barcelona (€2.688 billion). To understand how the figure was arrived at, let us look into the valuation process.
Top 10 in the list
Next in the list of most valued clubs after Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Barcelona, are German champions Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola-led Manchester City, Arsenal, premier league champions Chelsea, Liverpool, Juventus, and Tottenham. Unsurprisingly, 6 of the top 10 teams are from English Premier League.
Man United's sources of revenue
Apart from the regular match-day revenue obtained from Old Trafford attendance numbers, Man United gets its major chunk of revenues from commercial activities like sponsorship deals- it has 26 of them including kit manufacturer Adidas, shirt sponsor Chevrolet; merchandise, product and apparel licensing; mobile & content revenue. Further the English club gets around 25% of its revenues from broadcasting rights.
The 'Enterprise value' of a club
Value estimate of a football club or 'Enterprise Value' is an accounting measure used "to assess how much it would cost to buy the football club which also takes into account the club's debt." In KPMG's report titled "Football Clubs' Valuation : The European Elite 2017", it aims to provide EV of 32 prominent European football clubs. This is second such report by KPMG.
Overall value of the 32 European clubs
The total value of the 32 clubs studied by KPMG stood at €29.9 billion, a 14% increase from last season (€26.3 billion).
Factors considered for analysis by KPMG
In its study of the 32 European teams, KPMG took into consideration factors like popularity, profitability, broadcasting rights, stadium ownership, and sporting potential. This included the examination of finances of the clubs based on popularity on social media outlets, revenues for the seasons 2014-15 & 2015-2016, and success in European competitions like UEFA Champions League, Europa League, etc.
