Manchester City replace Barcelona at top of football’s revenue rich list

City are only the fourth club to ever top the list

Manchester City have been named the highest revenue-generating football club in the world by Deloitte for the 2020/21 season - the first time in their history they have topped the list. The Premier League side were sixth in last year's edition of the list but have leapt ahead of some of European football's biggest clubs with a revenue of £541.7m - ahead of second-place Real Madrid (£538.1m). Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Manchester United complete the top five, with Liverpool (7th), Chelsea (8th) and Tottenham (10th) also inside the top ten. The impact of the pandemic played a part in this year's positions, with only City, PSG, Chelsea and Juventus the only top-10 clubs to see increases in revenue from the previous year.

'The outlook is not as positive as it may appear'

City become only the fourth club to top the list after United, Real and Barcelona. "The impact of COVID-19 on Money League clubs’ finances is clear to see, although perhaps not always what many would expect," Deloitte explain.

"While we would typically associate COVID-19 with a negative financial impact, not all revenue streams shrunk in comparison to the previous season, with record aggregate broadcast revenue (€4.6 billion) recorded. "The outlook is not as positive as it may appear though, with the hike in broadcast revenue in the 2020/21 season a result of the double-edged impact of broadcast deferrals rather than an increase in the values of rights deals.

"While a proportion of the 23% fall in broadcast receipts recorded in the 2019/20 season was lost revenue, the majority of it was simply delayed and subsequently received in the 2020/21 season." Related links:

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