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Ranked: The World’s Most Valuable Football Club Brands

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An infographic ranking the most valuable football brands in the world, along with their worth.

Ranked: The World’s Most Valuable Football Club Brands

When the oldest national football competition—the FA Cup—was first played in 1872, the players didn’t get paid, clubs were local associations, and there were no such things as football brands.

Skip ahead a century and a half and many football clubs have comparable levels of global recognition to well-known consumer brands like Apple or Coca-Cola, while simultaneously commanding immense loyalty from fans from all walks of life.

These characteristics have immense financial worth. Today we find out which clubs, aside from competing on the pitch, also compete as football brands. Brand Finance, a brand valuation and strategy consultancy, has compiled a list of the world’s 50 most valuable football club brands.

ℹ️ Brand value refers to the present value of earnings specifically related to a football team’s brand reputation. This is separate and distinct from market value, or the value of an organization as a whole (i.e. what it would cost to buy a team)

Which Football Club Has the Most Valuable Brand?

Prized at $1.56 billion in 2023, Manchester City FC of England’s Premier League takes the top spot as the most valuable football brand.

The club’s brand value grew 13.5% in the last year, a testament to the club’s recent and sustained success on the domestic and international fronts. It has won the Premier league seven times since 2011, and in 2023 the club completed a historic “treble”—winning the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup, all in one season.

Here’s a look at the world’s top 50 most valued football club brands, listed in USD millions.

RankBrandCountryBrand Value
(USD millions)
Value Change
(2022-2023)
1Manchester City FC🇬🇧 UK$1,562+13.50%
2Real Madrid CF🇪🇸 Spain$1,513-14.40%
3FC Barcelona🇪🇸 Spain$1,425-7.20%
4Manchester United FC🇬🇧 UK$1,412-2.60%
5Liverpool FC🇬🇧 UK$1,411-4.40%
6Paris Saint-Germain🇫🇷 France$1,174-1.40%
7FC Bayern Munich🇩🇪 Germany$1,140-11.30%
8Arsenal FC🇬🇧 UK$940+0.02%
9Tottenham Hotspur FC🇬🇧 UK$931-8.00%
10Chelsea FC🇬🇧 UK$893-9.90%
11Juventus FC🇮🇹 Italy$655-19.90%
12Club Atletico de Madrid🇪🇸 Spain$570-15.10%
13Borussia Dortmund🇩🇪 Germany$562-6.30%
14FC Internazionale Milano🇮🇹 Italy$528-8.00%
15AC Milan🇮🇹 Italy$371+0.19%
16West Ham United FC🇬🇧 UK$320-6.40%
17Newcastle United FC🇬🇧 UK$259+0.17%
18SSC Napoli🇮🇹 Italy$249+0.18%
19RasenBallsport Leipzig🇩🇪 Germany$231-18.40%
20Aston Villa FC🇬🇧 UK$222+0.04%
21AS Roma🇮🇹 Italy$212+0.01%
22Eintracht Frankfurt🇩🇪 Germany$210-5.40%
23Everton FC🇬🇧 UK$205-13.60%
24Bayer 04 Leverkusen🇩🇪 Germany$202-8.00%
25Sevilla FC🇪🇸 Spain$196-5.10%
26Brighton &
Hove Albion FC
🇬🇧 UK$189-3.00%
27Leicester City🇬🇧 UK$187-40.70%
28Olympique De Marseille🇫🇷 France$179+0.07%
29Crystal Palace🇬🇧 UK$174-1.70%
30AFC Ajax🇳🇱 Netherlands$172-18.90%
31Olympique Lyonnais🇫🇷 France$166-6.90%
32Wolverhampton Wanderers FC🇬🇧 UK$166-29.80%
33Leeds United🇬🇧 UK$160-25.60%
34Real Betis🇪🇸 Spain$159+0.17%
35Borussia Monchengladbach🇩🇪 Germany$157-18.80%
36Villarreal CF🇪🇸 Spain$143-6.30%
37Real Sociedad🇪🇸 Spain$139N/A
38VfL Wolfsburg🇩🇪 Germany$128-34.90%
391.FC Koln🇩🇪 Germany$125-3.30%
40SC Freiburg🇩🇪 Germany$125N/A
41SL Benfica🇵🇹 Portugal$123+0.05%
42Celtic FC🇬🇧 UK$118-9.70%
43Brentford FC🇬🇧 UK$118N/A
44Athletic de Bilbao🇪🇸 Spain$117-23.50%
45SS Lazio SpA🇮🇹 Italy$116N/A
461.FC Union Berlin🇩🇪 Germany$112N/A
47Valencia CF🇪🇸 Spain$112-38.70%
48FC Porto🇵🇹 Portugal$105N/A
49Fulham FC🇬🇧 UK$104N/A
50CR Flamengo🇧🇷 Brazil$102-8.80%

Close on City’s heels, Spain’s Real Madrid CF brand is also valued slightly above $1.5 billion, but is down 14% in the last year. The club lost their hold on both their domestic league and European championship titles this season, contributing to their decrease in brand worth in 2023.

On the Catalonian side of Spain, FC Barcelona’s brand remains ranked in third place, valued at $1.4 billion. The two Spanish giants have a near duopoly over La Liga, Spain’s domestic league, with one of them having won the title 62 times in the 94 years since the league was founded.

The rivalry gained another edge in the 2000s, hosting one each of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo—two of the most-followed celebrities in the world and often regarded as some of the greatest players to play the game.

And while both Messi and Ronaldo left in the last five years, Barcelona and Real Madrid’s brands have stayed resilient. Both clubs have consistently ranked in the top five most valuable football club brands since 2013.

Four more club brands have been valued above $1 billion:

  • Manchester United FC, England, ($1.41 billion)
  • Liverpool FC, England ($1.41 billion)
  • Paris Saint-Germain, France ($1.17 billion)
  • FC Bayern Munich, Germany ($1.14 billion)

Countries with the Most Valuable Football Brands

From a regional perspective, the UK is home to the most high-worth football club brands (18), all of them in England with the sole exception of Scotland’s Celtic FC.

CountryClubsBrand Value
(USD millions)
🇬🇧 UK18$9,371
🇩🇪 Germany10$2,992
🇪🇸 Spain9$4,374
🇮🇹 Italy6$2,131
🇫🇷 France3$1,519
🇵🇹 Portugal2$228
🇳🇱 Netherlands1$172
🇧🇷 Brazil1$102
Total50$20,889

The UK is followed by Germany (10) and Spain (9) with the most high-valued brands. Together, the top three countries account for almost three quarters of the most valued football club brands in the world.

With an even broader-picture gaze, Europe is home to 49 of the 50 listed clubs, a testament to the strength of the European football market. The only non-European team to make the list was CR Flamengo from Brazil.

What’s in a Brand?

While the value of a football club brand is not the same as the club value itself, a strong brand can do wonders for a club’s financial performance, and eventual value.

Just look at Manchester United, which hasn’t quite regained its stellar performances on field since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013, but nevertheless continues to be a commercial juggernaut—it had the fourth highest jersey sales in 2021.

A similar story can be seen with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr when it signed Cristiano Ronaldo, which drove visits to its merchandise store up 300%.

With the new football season around the corner, it will be fascinating to see how the rankings of most valuable football brands change next year.

Where Does This Data Come From?

Source: Brand Finance’s 2023 Football 50 Report.
Data note: Some clubs were not ranked in the top 50 in 2022, leading to missing data for brand value and rank changes in the last year. These entires have been marked with an “N/A” where required.

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Misc

Ranked: The World’s Top 10 Automotive Exporters (2000-2022)

Data from the World Trade Organization highlights the world’s 10 largest automotive exporters in 2022.

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Ranked: The World’s Top 10 Automotive Exporters

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, over 85 million motor vehicles were built around the world in 2022.

In this graphic, we add context to this massive figure by ranking the world’s 10 largest automotive exporters. The list is based on data from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and includes countries from nearly every corner of the world, highlighting the global nature of the industry.

Top 10 Exporting Countries

The data we used to create this graphic is included in the table below. It represents each country’s share of the total export value of global automotive products in both 2000 and 2022.

“Automotive products” are defined by the WTO as motor vehicles, parts and accessories for motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines for propelling said vehicles. This grouping excludes motorcycles and trailers.

Exporter2000
(% of world exports)
2022
(% of world exports)
Change (pp)
🇪🇺 EU45.4%46.1%+0.7
🇺🇸 U.S.11.7%9.1%-2.6
🇯🇵 Japan15.3%8.9%-6.4
🇲🇽 Mexico5.3%8.5%+3.2
🇨🇳 China0.3%8.0%+7.7
🇰🇷 South Korea2.6%5.1%+2.5
🇨🇦 Canada10.5%3.3%-7.2
🇬🇧 UK4.5%2.7%-1.8
🇹🇭 Thailand0.4%2.0%+1.6
🇹🇷 Türkiye0.3%1.7%+1.4
Total96.3%95.4%--

From this list we can identify which countries have experienced the most growth or decline over the past 22 years.

Countries With the Most Growth Since 2000

The automotive exporters that grew their share of global value the most since 2000 are China (+7.7 pp), Mexico (+3.2 pp), and South Korea (+2.5 pp).

There are clear drivers behind each of these growth stories.

For example, China became the world’s largest car market back in 2009, which accelerated the growth of its domestic automakers. China is also home to some of the world’s biggest automotive suppliers, including Weichai (diesel engines), Hasco Automotive (drivetrain and air conditioning systems), and CATL (EV batteries).

Mexico, on the other hand, has grown its auto industry by enticing global brands to construct their factories there. The country’s competitive edge includes cheaper labor and a land border to the United States.

Finally there’s South Korea, whose growth is largely attributed to Hyundai Motor Company. The Seoul-based automaker recently became the third largest on a global basis, trailing only Toyota and Volkswagen.

Countries With the Biggest Decline Since 2000

The automotive exporters that declined the most since 2000 are Canada (-7.2 pp), Japan (-6.4 pp), and the U.S. (-2.6 pp).

Canada’s auto industry has experienced a steady decline in recent years, though new EV-related investments could turn things around. In March 2022, Stellantis and LG Energy Solutions announced the construction of a $3.5 billion EV battery plant in Windsor, Ontario.

Canada’s automotive industry is largely concentrated in the province of Ontario, which neighbors Michigan, the top state for U.S. car production.

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