MADRID, 6 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid is the brand among the strongest football clubs for the second consecutive year, according to the latest ‘Football 50 2023’ report, presented this Tuesday by ‘Brand Finance’, although the Real Madrid team is surpassed by the English Manchester City in most valuable brand concept.
As detailed in the study by the leading independent consultancy in brand value, the 14-time European champion once again leads this ranking of the strongest brand that underlines “what attracts fans, players, investors and sponsors to commit to the club, providing business value through increased revenue, pricing -especially for sponsorship-, increased growth and sponsorship, reducing risks to profitability associated with weak on-field performance.”
The club chaired by Florentino Pérez obtains a score of 95/100 (+0.8 points) and the highest AAA+ rating, surpassing English Liverpool (93.3/AAA+) and FC Barcelona (92.6/AAA+), being the madridista and the azulgrana the only two from LaLiga Santander in the ‘Top 10’ of this ranking. Atlético de Madrid is fourteenth (AAA-) and the next in the standings is Sevilla, twenty-fifth (AA-).
On the other hand, Manchester City FC becomes the most valuable football brand in the world, ending Real Madrid’s four-year streak of dominance. The English champion sees how his brand value has increased by 13 percent, to 1,500 million euros, for a total of 34 percent since the pandemic.
The merengue team is placed second, with 1,458 million euros due to a drop of 4 percent, and remains ahead of FC Barcelona, which rises 4 percent to place its brand value at 1,371, thanks to improving “his reputation after a period of setbacks on the pitch and financial difficulties.”
Manchester United (1,361) and Liverpool (1,360) complete the ‘Top 5’ of a ranking where the next LaLiga Santander team is Atlético de Madrid, twelfth with 550 million after a drop of 5 percent.
They are joined by Sevilla (25), Betis (34 and which is the third fastest growing with 31 percent), Villarreal (36), Real Sociedad (37 and for the first time in this classification), the Athletic Club (44) and Valencia (47), a total of nine clubs that make LaLiga, whose brand value rises 2 percent (4.2 billion euros) and which ranks 37th among the most valuable in Spain, establishes itself as the second most valuable behind the English Premier League, which rises 5 percent to 9,000 million.
In addition, ‘Brand Finance’ has also classified Real Betis in second place in its Football Sustainability ranking thanks to its “commitment to raising awareness about climate change” and only surpassed by Liverpool.
“Spain has a rich football tradition, with leading international brands. Club brands join cities, even countries, being one of their main insignia in sport. Clubs generate pride of belonging around a brand, building positioning of cities worldwide for its brand, its colors, the shield, the stadium and its fans”, warns Pilar Alonso Ulloa, Managing Director Iberia (Spain, Portugal) and South America of ‘Brand Finance’.
From the report, dominated by the presence of English clubs, with 17 in the ‘Top 50’, it also stands out that, despite losing brand value, the German Bundesliga is the second with the most teams (10), and that Brazilian Flamengo (50), is the only non-European to appear in the ranking.