Yesterday brought the annual release of the Forbes rich list, which ranks the most valuable football clubs in the entire world. FC Barcelona is #1, with a valuation of $4.76 billion, edging out arch-rivals Real Madrid, who came in second at $4.75 billion.
European champions Bayern Munich ($4.215b) are third on the list while all of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ — Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur — landed within the top 10. United lead the way, in fourth place, at $4.2 billion.
Liverpool are fifth ($4.1b), City 6th ($4b), Chelsea 7th ($3.2b), Arsenal 8th ($2.8b) and Tottenham 10th ($2.3b). French giants Paris Saint-Germain came in the ninth, and that covers the top ten in full. Numbers like these makes me think of the lyrics to Dr. Dre’s “Been There, Done That,” as he once rapped “spend a mil no sweat, water my lawn with Moet.”
The link goes 20 deep, and there is plenty of England representation beyond just the big six. Everton are 15th at $658 million and West Ham United are 18th at $508m. The big news here though is, welcome to the party Leicester City. The Midlands club, who were in the Championship in 2014 and the third tier of English soccer in 2009, have now cracked the top 20.
They’re 19th, with Forbes valuing them at $455 million. Congratulations!
You can view the whole list, with all the facts and figures over at this link.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.