United fall behind in Money League |
| [Reprint from SUN]
MANCHESTER UNITED are falling further behind Real Madrid and Barcelona in football's Money League.
United were played off the park by Barcelona in last year's Champions League final and both Spanish giants are on a different planet when it comes to cash.
According to accountancy firm Deloitte's Football Money League, United boosted their income in 2010-11 by 16 PER CENT to more than £331million.
But Real (£433m) and Barca (£407m) increased their revenues by enough to extend their lead over third-placed United.
The Red Devils' shock failure to reach the knockout stages of this season's Champions League means Real and Barca are set to pull away again in next year's table.
Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: "Barca's shirt deal with the Qatar Foundation will further boost the club's revenue in 2011-12.
"Nonetheless, Real will be confident it can remain at the top of the Money League next year. The two clubs' on-pitch performance, particularly in this season's Champions League, will have a big influence on the final outcome."It may be some consolation to Alex Ferguson and United, as they prepare to face Liverpool on Saturday, that their bitter rivals went backwards off the pitch as well as on it last season.
Despite their new £20m-a-season shirt deal with Standard Chartered, the Anfield club's income in 2010-11 fell because they did not play in the Champions League and they slipped down a place to ninth.
The report said: "Despite reporting strong growth from its commercial revenues, and a new six-year kit deal with Warrior Sports from 2012-13, Liverpool needs a return to European football to help secure its top-10 position in the Money League."
But whatever happens, Liverpool could soon be overtaken by Manchester City, even though the Premier League leaders dropped a place on last season's figures.
Alan Switzer, a director at Deloitte's Sports Business Group, said: "The club's heavy squad investment secured Champions League football for 2011-12.
"When combined with the ground breaking 10-year partnership with Etihad, this will provide substantial growth across all three revenue sources and will see City break into the top 10 next year."
The Premier League can still claim to be the world's richest football division.
Arsenal (a non-mover in fifth), Chelsea (steady at sixth) and Liverpool are all in the top 10 while Tottenham (11th) and City (12th) are just outside it.
Aston Villa, Newcastle, Everton, West Ham — relegated last May — and Sunderland are all within touching distance of the top 20.
But Real and Barcelona are comfortably the richest and will stay that way for some time.
For now, the Spanish sides are allowed to sell their own TV rights, rather than pooling them like England's 20 top-flight clubs and they also have bigger sponsorship deals than even United can manage.
Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre floated the idea of allowing Premier League teams to market their own TV rights but was shouted down by the other clubs.
The Money League also shows a small number of clubs have a massive share of football's billions.
The top 20 sides had a total income of almost £4billion in 2010-11 — more than a quarter of the European football market.
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