REAL MADRID & BARCELONA TOP 2012 FOOTBALL MONEY LEAGUE

When it comes to the World’s richest clubs, it’s a Spanish one-two as Real Madrid and Barcelona sit atop the Football Money League as compiled by Deloitte.

Los Blancos of Madrid make it their seventh successive year at the pinnacle of the league, which ranks clubs based on their revenue streams from the past season, whilst Barcelona hold their position in second.

The Spanish dominance of the Football Money League mostly stems from the fact that La Liga teams negotiate their television rights independently, whereas the Premier League’s rights are handled co-operatively.

Speaking of the Premier League, Manchester United hold a respectable third place finish, and are well ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea by some €100m, and almost double the revenue of rivals Manchester City, who trail behind both Tottenham and Liverpool in 11th.

“Continued growth of the top 20 clubs during 2010/11 emphasizes the strength of football’s top clubs, especially in these tough economic times,” said Dan Jones of the Deloitte sports business group.

“Whilst revenue growth has slowed from eight per cent in 2009/10 to three per cent in 2010/11, their large and loyal supporter bases, ability to drive strong broadcast audiences and continuing attraction to corporate partners has made them relatively resilient to the economic downturn.”