DAVID BECKHAM may insist that Real Madrid did not sign him in order to shift replica shirts, but the fact is: he does. The jury is still out regarding the England captain’s playing value, but there is no doubt that he has helped to make his club even bigger winners off the pitch, with Real now threatening the fiscal dominance of his former club.
Thanks in no small part to the £25 million signing of Beckham, Real are closing the financial gap on Manchester United, according to a respected report published today. The Deloitte Football Money League ranked the Spanish giants second, with turnover of £156.3 million compared with United’s income last season of £171.5 million.
Real have moved up from fourth place in the 2002-03 season after buying Beckham from United. The club’s rise was down to a surge in commercial income, which now accounts for more than a third of its total revenue.
Real have more than doubled their commercial revenue — from sponsorship deals with adidas and Siemens and increased merchandising — since Florentino Pérez, the president, embarked on his policy of signing a galáctico each season and eliminating debt through the sale of the training ground. In his first campaign with Real, Beckham was credited with a substantial increase in replica shirt sales.
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Matchday income is just over a quarter of total revenue, compared with 36 per cent at United, underlining the cash-generating power of Old Trafford that Malcolm Glazer, the American billionaire trying to take over the club, is so keen to exploit. “Real Madrid’s challenge for first place in the Money League in coming years will be a strong one,” the report said. “If Real Madrid are to finally close that gap, a key challenge will be whether they can make the Bernab éu as lucrative as Old Trafford on matchday.”
The Money League, which United have led for the past eight seasons, indicates that the world’s top 20 football clubs, by income, are set to break the £2 billion mark in 2005.
“The second round of this season’s Champions League draw has paired eight of our top nine Money League clubs with each other,” Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said. “The results of these matches may have a big influence on the clubs’ positions in the next Money League. Competing in the Champions League can deliver an extra 10 per cent to 20 per cent of income for a club.”
If Chelsea fulfil expectations in the European Cup this season they could find themselves moving up from fourth place. The London club, alongside Barcelona, are the biggest climbers in the league, up from tenth with an income of £143.7 million. Despite a stadium capacity of only 42,500, Chelsea generated £53.6 million on matchdays through higher ticket prices and seven European fixtures at Stamford Bridge. Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, has vowed to make the club profitable by 2010 — they announced debts of £87 million this month — and has already raised commercial revenue through new deals with adidas and Orange.
British clubs, including Celtic, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Rangers, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Arsenal, account for half of the top 20. A stronger French presence in future Money Leagues is expected after the signing of a domestic broadcast deal with Canal Plus worth £400 million per season. Only Marseilles made last season’s list.