Manchester City have been overtaken in an annual global football club money ranking, with an old foe from Spain reclaiming the top spot.
The 27th edition of the Deloitte Football Money League placed Real Madrid at the head of the pack for the first time since 2017/18, with Premier League clubs losing ground in the top 20 generally during the 2022/23 season.
The report, which does not take account of operational costs and focuses purely on revenue, largely credited clubs in continental Europe catching up after a slower recovery from COVID pandemic disruption.
Real led the way with revenue of £723m in 2022-23, closely followed by City with £718.2m.
Liverpool suffered the biggest fall of any club in the top 20, dropping from third place down to seventh.
Deloitte found their revenue had dropped slightly from £594.3m to £593.8m due to the club’s fifth place in the Premier League and last 16 exit in the Champions League.
Replacing the Reds, for the first time in the top three, was Paris Saint-Germain.
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FC Barcelona rose from seventh to fourth, thanks to club record licensing and merchandising revenues.
Manchester United dropped one place to fifth and Bayern Munich claimed sixth spot.
Tottenham and Chelsea were deemed to have switched places compared to last year, with Spurs up one place to eighth, while Arsenal held on to 10th position.
Deloitte said the top 20 clubs earned £9bn collectively, a 14% rise on the previous season.
Commercial revenue represented the largest income stream for the first time since 2015/16 season when the COVID-hit 2019/20 season was excluded.
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Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said: “Another record-breaking year for Money League clubs represents the ongoing financial might of the football industry.
“A high demand for live sport is pointing towards further growth for commercial and matchday revenues, in particular.”
“As clubs appear to no longer be able to rely on exponential broadcast revenue growth, creating a more commercially focused business model will support them to achieve greater control over their financial stability.
“This may include developing new merchandise, or non-match day events such as concerts to create new commercial offerings.”
Barcelona Femeni were the top-earning women’s club in the world, with revenue rising by 74% to £11.6m.
Manchester United Women are second ahead of Real Madrid in third. Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea are fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
