Real Madrid Posts Highest Revenue In History Of Team Sports – Forbes

La Liga soccer power Real Madrid won its record tenth Champions League title this year, taking home Europe’s top prize for the first time since 2002. The team endured a 12-year title drought, but off the pitch Real has been firing on all cylinders establishing itself as the sport’s strongest club financially. Friday the club announced its results for the 2013-14 year, which included revenue of 603.9 million euros ($797 million), up 10.9% over the previous year. It marks the highest recorded revenues in the history of professional team sports.

In a bit of symmetry with its ten Champions League titles, Real will have the highest revenue among teams for the tenth straight year based on its latest results. Its closest competitor is Barcelona, which announced revenue of $710 million in July. The top American sports franchises by revenue are the Dallas Cowboys ($560 million in 2013) and New York Yankees ($620 million before revenue sharing and stadium debt service).

Real, led by global soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo, is the world’s most valuable sports franchise worth $3.44 billion and club president Florentino Pérez highlighted this achievement when announcing the results Friday. “For the third consecutive year, Forbes considers us the most valuable club in the world,” he said. Don’t expect Real’s owners to cash in, as it is owned by its members similar to the Green Bay Packers in the U.S. “Running this wonderful club is a responsibility and we should never forget that, after 112 years of history, Real Madrid still belongs to its members,” said Perez.

The Champions League win meant a payout of $78 million versus the $62 million Real earned last season for its semifinal finish. The club’s commercial revenue is boosted by a $41 million-a-year kit deal with Adidas Adidas. The pact was renewed in 2012 and runs until 2020. It was the biggest uniform deal in the sport before Manchester United signed its blockbuster 10-year, $1.3 billion deal with Adidas in July. Real’s jersey sponsorship deal with Emirates adds $39 million annually.

Real’s gameday revenue will get a boost from a proposed $540 million renovation to its historic stadium, Santiago Bernabeu, which is expected to be completed in 2017. Potential renovations include a retractable roof, new exterior and thousands of additional seats added to the current 81,044 capacity. Real can afford it. Profits for the 2013-14 season rose 4.4% to $51 million and debt shrank 21% to $94 million.

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