here's your Forbes daily briefing for Saturday, May 25th. Today on Forbes, the world's most valuable soccer teams in 2024. When Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire founder and CEO of Ineos Chemical Group, bought 27.7% of Manchester United in February for an enterprise value of $6.5 billion, it was the richest price ever paid for a sports team in which the buyer also got operating rights. The deal valued at $500 million more than Forbes estimated the storied English soccer club was worth a year ago, not only paid tribute to Manchester United's list-leading $187 million in operating income (that's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) and a global fan base of more than 650 million, it also exemplified why 12 of the 30 most valuable soccer teams in the world play in the Premier League. Forbes now values Manchester United at $6.55 billion, second only to Spain's Real Madrid, which is at 6.6 billion.

most valuable team in the world. For the third consecutive year, the Premier League, England's top-tier league, inked a new domestic television deal in December for the 2025-26 through 2028-29 seasons. For an average of $2.1 billion a year, will be raking in more than twice the amount in domestic broadcasting revenue as any other soccer league, and nearly twice as much as number two Spain's La Liga. When international broadcast deals are included, in essence, all of the European soccer leagues, with the exception of the Premier League, are taking or thinking of taking loans against future value. Italy's Serie A has been considering the sale of a stake in its media rights to private equity investors since 2020. In 2022, France's Ligue 1 sold 13% of its rights in a new subsidiary to CBC, which gave Ligue 1 a nice cash infusion in exchange for paying CBC dividends from broadcasting rights, sponsorship rights, and other relevant commercial contracts. Last October, France scrapped its broadcasting rights auction because

it did not get any offers that met the minimum prices for League. From 2024 through 2029 in early 2022, La Liga did something similar, selling 88.2% of a new commercial subsidiary to CVC. Seria was also thinking about selling its broadcasting rights to private equity, but has apparently scrapped the idea. Meanwhile, in Germany, Bundesliga supporters are protesting selling equity in its broadcasting rights. The headwind in broadcasting deals means that performing on the pitch is vital for the best soccer teams in the world. The pecking order of valuations is based more on advancing far in the Champions League through the semi-finals. Of this year's Champions League tournament, there are seven teams that have earned more than $100 million: Real Madrid $144 million, Paris St. Germain $131 million, Borussia Dortmund $130 million, Bayern Munich $129 million, Manchester City $118 million, Barcelona $105 million, and Arsenal $100 million. The winner of the Real Madrid-Borussia Dortmund final on June 1st will

pocket another $21.6 million. Real Madrid generated the most revenue, $873 million, of any team and has won the Champions League five of the past nine years. Sponsors can count on the team being on the screen in front of hundreds of millions of soccer fanatics during plenty of big games, which is why Real Madrid earns an average of $25 million a year through its jersey sponsors, the most in soccer according to Football Benchmark. Not far behind in sponsorship revenue are other teams that typically qualify for the Champions League: Barcelona $189 million, Paris St Germain $158 million, Arsenal $158 million, Manchester United $154 million, Manchester City $152 million, Chelsea $126 million, and Bayern Munich $119 million. In the Premier League, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, and Fulham FC increased sponsor revenue with new front-of-shirt deals that began with the 2023-24 season. Newcastle cashed in on a new deal with Cella worth about $30 million per year over 3 years, four times more than what the team was receiving previously from Fun 88. Aston's

million a year agreement with BK8 more than doubled its previous sponsorship with Kazo, and Fulham's 12.5 million deal with SBO top is 66% higher than its previous sponsorship fee from W88. Despite the speed bump in European broadcasting revenue, the average soccer team is now worth $2.3 billion, a 5.1% increase from a year ago. Rounding out the top five most valuable teams after Real Madrid and Manchester United are Barcelona at $5.6 billion, Liverpool at $5.37 billion, and Manchester City at $5.1 billion. For full coverage and to see the full list, check out Michael Anan and Justin Tile Bals' piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in. [Music]

Inside The 2024 List Of The World's Most Valuable Soccer Teams

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Inside The 2024 List Of The World's Most Valuable Soccer Teams

Inside The 2024 List Of The World's Most Valuable Soccer Teams

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