Shola Akinyele
[ctt_author author=”12405″ name=”shola” template=”1″ link=”bD6QI” via=”no” ]Manchester United named world’s most valuable club by Forbes[/ctt_author]
Manchester United has been named the world’s most valuable football club for the first time in five years by Forbes.
United was valued at $3.69 billion by the American business magazine, ahead of Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Barcelona is valued at $3.64bn while Real Madrid, ranked first in the list for the past four years, fell to third with a value of $3.58bn.
Bayern Munich ($2.71bn) and Manchester City ($2.08bn) also made the top five. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Juventus and Tottenham make up the rest of the top 10.
Mike Ozanian, the assistant managing editor at Forbes Media, said: “Manchester United’s return to the top spot is a testament to their powerful brand and marketing acumen.”
United generated revenues of $765 million during the 2015-16 season, according to Forbes, $77m more than both Barcelona and Madrid.
They are also the most profitable club, posting operating income of $288m — $107m more than second-placed Madrid.
Last week, United were named Europe’s most valuable football club following a report by auditors KPMG, which valued the club at €3.004 billion — 18.6 percent less than Forbes’ valuation.
United, who won the EFL Cup and Europa League last season but finished sixth in the Premier League, announced in May projected full-year revenues of between £560m and £570m and expected profits that could surpass their current record of £191.9m.
They currently have 26 global sponsorship deals, including with Adidas, Chevrolet, 20th Century Fox and Uber, as well as 10 regional sponsorship deals and 28 other media and financial sponsors.
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