Real Madrid’s Revenue Makes Them First Billion-Dollar Football Team in History

As the first football team to earn more than €1 billion (US$1.04 billion) annually, Real Madrid CF have broken financial records.

Photo: Real Madrid’s players before a 2024-25 Champions League match at Bernabéu (screenshot youtube.com/@realmadrid)

The Deloitte Football Money League revealed that Real Madrid became the first-ever football club in the world to surpass €1 billion (US$1.04 billion) in annual revenue. According to the data, which covers the 2023–24 season, the Spanish and European champions took first place in the rankings with an incredible €1,045,000,000.

The record-breaking revenue of “Los Blancos” is made up of €482 million from commercial operations, €316 million from television, and €248 million from matchday revenue. The Santiago Bernabéu stadium’s renovation was crucial since it doubled matchday income from the previous season, making it the biggest of all clubs. With matchday earnings of €170 million, Paris Saint-Germain sit in second place.

Which Other Clubs Rank High for Revenue?

Next in line for revenue is Manchester City (€838 million). These clubs follow: Paris Saint-Germain (€806 million), Manchester United (€771 million), and Bayern Munich (€765 million). The top 10 is dominated by the Premier League. Among the remaining five in the top 10, where only Barcelona of La Liga squeezed in among English sides, are teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea. The top 20 teams collectively brought in €11.2 billion, which was 6% more than they did in 2022–23.

Real Madrid’s prowess on the field is reflected in their financial dominance. They won the La Liga championship, finishing 10 points ahead of Barcelona (they are currently ahead of them too, with pre-season odds of the best football bookmakers in the world making them the biggest national championship favorites) and the Champions League in the 2023–24 season after defeating Borussia Dortmund in the Wembley final. Real Madrid and second-place Manchester City have a record-breaking €208 million cash gap.

Among the teams under study, Real Madrid’s commercial revenue, which increased by 19%, is still the highest. Their strategic expansion and the impact of their refurbished stadium are highlighted in Deloitte’s study, which further strengthens their position as the financial powerhouse of international football.