20 richest clubs in world football based on revenue generated | OneFootball

The world of football is becoming increasingly about the financial side of the game. While fans of the sport are only really interested in performances on the pitch and results of their favourite teams, those in charge of clubs often appear more concerned with how healthy the bank balance is.

There are various ways for football clubs to bring in extra money, such as broadcasting deals, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and many other revenue streams. The vast amounts of cash being circulated in the game is becoming ludicrous but it is all likely to continue to rise over the coming years. After all, those big-money transfers for players won't pay for themselves.

With that in mind, GIVEMESPORT have looked into the richest clubs in world football based on their revenue, with the information coming from Deloitte's latest money league. See the results below.

1 Real Madrid

2022/23 revenue: £723 million

A second-place finish in La Liga and a Champions League semi-final appearance was enough to lift Real Madrid into first place on this list. Los Blancos are the biggest football club in the world as they are not only iconic on the pitch, but extremely savvy operators away from the field.

The revenue of the Spanish giants increased by more than £100 million in only 12 months. The biggest contributing factors towards the revenue of the club are the broadcasting and commercial incomes, with the latter increasing dramatically in 2023. The addition of Jude Bellingham to the team will not only increase shirt sales but, with the performances of the English star, could elevate them back to winning ways and increase their revenue further.

2 Manchester City

2022/23 revenue: £718.2 million

It may come as a surprise to see Pep Guardiola's treble-winning side anywhere but top of this list, but the CItizens fell from their previous position into second. Despite lifting the FA Cup, Premier League, and a first-ever Champions League, City fell behind the team they defeated in the European semi-final on their way to glory.

All the prize money that came in from lifting the aforementioned trophies, was not quite enough to retain the top spot on this list, but the club as a whole have still come a very long way from where they were before Sheikh Mansour's takeover. The plan will be to continue building on the success of the club to date in the coming years.

3 Paris Saint-Germain

2022/23 revenue: £697.2 million

Paris Saint-Germain are one of the richest clubs in world football in every sense, and by far the wealthiest in their domestic league. The Ligue 1 champions have been the best team in their division for quite some time now, with minor blips along the way. The wages they pay players have been obscene at times, with Kylian Mbappe being one of the highest paid players in world football.

With the superstar signings such as Neymar and Lionel Messi, come various sponsorship deals and this has helped the French side remain towards the top of this list. Being able to lift their league title and qualify for Europe's biggest competition could never hurt the coffers either.

4 Barcelona

2022/23 revenue: 695.8 million

Barcelona have suffered a fall from grace in many ways since the glory days under Guardiola in the 2000s and early 2010s with Messi being central to everything good they did on the pitch. But a heroic figure from that side - Xavi - was able to lead the Catalan side to their first La Liga success in four years.

This helped to ease the financial struggles the club have faced in recent years. Even if they have had a tough time in footballing terms over the past five years or so, Barcelona will always be one of the biggest names in world football, and that name carries a lot of weight for sponsors and broadcasters.

5 Manchester United

2022/23 revenue: £648.5 million

Much like Barcelona, there is an element of Manchester United becoming a sleeping giant due to poor performances and results ever since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Losing the greatest manager in Premier League history was never going to be easy, but it also highlighted the work the Scottish boss helped with behind the scenes.

There have long been suggestions that, in Ferguson's absence, a lack of football knowledge is currently present at Old Trafford. What the Glazer family and their employees do excel in, however, is the commercial side of the business. The name of the club is enough to keep them relevant, so much so that United are the second English side to appear on the list.

6 Bayern Munich

2022/23 revenue: £647 million

Bayern Munich are agoinisngly close to breaking into the top five of this list, but the Bundesliga champions' revenue in 2022/23 fell just short of Manchester United's. Wrapping up an 11th successive league trophy with some final day drama, it began to look like no one was ever going to stop the machine that is Bayern Munich, but Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen are certainly posing a threat to them in 2024.

Harry Kane's arrival was a masterstroke as a clinical number nine, but also a huge superstar off the pitch. Sponsorship deals will never be hard to come by for the biggest club in Germany and a team that always find themselves among the favourites at the start of every Champions League campaign.

7 Liverpool

2022/23 revenue: £593.8 million

Liverpool are the first team on the list to have seen their revenue drop from 2021/22 to 2022/23. Jurgen Klopp's side suffered their worst season in recent memory as they failed to qualify for Champions League football despite a late charge in the Premier League. This will have been a big contributing factor as Europa League football - while still lucrative -doesn't offer such financial incentive.

The Reds look to be on the way up as they are set to go up against Manchester City and Arsenal in the title race during the 2023/24 campaign. Fenway Sports Group - the club's owners - will be hoping to see the famous club higher in these rankings in 12 months.

8 Tottenham

2022/23 revenue: £549.2 million

Tottenham fans have often been critical of the job chairman Daniel Levy has done, with a lot of the focus seeming to be on matters away from the success of the club on the pitch. Silverware has been non-existent at the north London club since 2008 - over 15 years - yet Spurs are still relatively high on this list with a very healthy revenue.

With a remarkable state-of-the-art stadium that hosts many events including music concerts and even NFL matches, the club are bringing in even more money than ever before and this could be set to increase further as Ange Postecoglou looks to lead his players back into the top four and a seat at the table of Europe's elite.

9 Chelsea

2022/23 revenue: £512.5 million

Todd Boehly has spent ludicrous sums of money since he took the reigns of Chelsea in 2022. The American businessman has yet to see any positive results on the field - having gone through four managers already - but the west London side remain among the wealthiest in the world.

The signings of many young players has made it clear that the project is a long-term one at Stamford Bridge and the money paid by various companies for the broadcasting rights to Premier League matches will continue to add to the vast sums of money already in the bank for the club as they look to produce results on the pitch.

10 Arsenal

2022/23 revenue: £463.1 million

Mikel Arteta took Arsenal to their first Champions League group stage since 2016 after the Gunners went so close to toppling Manchester City from the pinnacle of the Premier League table in the 2022/23 season. In the end, however, his young Arsenal team fell short of lifting the club's first league title in almost two decades.

Regardless of the shortcomings of the season, the feel-good factor returned to the Emirates and with the return to the top European competition, came financial success as their revenue increased by a staggering 23% in just one year. Declan Rice and Kai Havertz were among the big-money signings at Arsenal in 2023, as a result of their new-found success.

11 Juventus

2022/23 revenue: £376 million

We have finally arrived at a Serie A club, in the form of Juventus. Many Italian clubs have suffered financially in recent years, and Juve themselves were expelled from European football for the 2023/24 campaign due to a failure to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.

Nonetheless, the club still brings in a lot of money from various different streams, being the biggest in their domestic league. This is one of the smallest revenue increases on the list as Juventus remain in 11th place from the year prior, with their revenue growing to £376 million from £339.4 million.

12 Borussia Dortmund

2022/23 revenue: £365.3 million

Borussia Dortmund will still be kicking themselves at their failure to lift their first Bundesliga title in over a decade after going into the final day of the 2022/23 season with their fate being in their own hands. Bayern Munich ultimately won the trophy and Dortmund were forced to accept the prize money for finishing second.

Germany is one of the European leagues that is dominated completely by one club: Bayern Munich. This has been seen in the past as the Bavarians are able to sign players from their rivals time and time again, but over the last 10 years, Dortmund have undoubtedly been the second-best team. A fiercely loyal fan base will contribute towards the club moving up one place from last year, with the stadium always filled to the brim by fans donning the black and yellow colours of their side.

13 AC Milan

2022/23 revenue: £335.1 million

AC Milan are nowhere near the gargantuan club they once were in the 1990s and early 2000s, but the seven-time European Cup winners are still a huge name around the globe and sponsors will still fall over themselves to have an association with the club.

That strong brand along with a semi-final in the Champions League and a second place finish in their domestic league have all contributed to their rise from 16th to 13th in this list. They have even overtaken the one club in the world that they constantly compare themselves against.

2022/23 revenue: £329.5 million

Narrowly beaten on the list by their nearest rivals, Inter Milan also recorded a very healthy revenue for the 2022/23 campaign as they were the side to reach the final of the Champions League, although they were ultimately beaten by Manchester City. Along their run to that final, Inter knocked AC Milan out of the competition at the semi-final stage, getting one over their local foes.

In some ways, the Italian club will feel disappointed to have only managed a third place finish in Serie A with Juventus having a tough time, and this could have cost them finishing above the other Milan club on this list. The Serie A giants look on course to compete directly for the league title in 2023/24 and could pull themselves into a higher position come 2025.

Atletico Madrid are the second team - after Liverpool - to have reported a loss in terms of revenue over 12 months. They were in 12th position on this list one year ago, but have now dropped to 15th place, falling behind Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, and Inter Milan.

Forever the third wheel to the rivalry that's known as El Clasico in Spain, Atletico have often broken up the stranglehold Real Madrid and Barcelona have over the top two spots in La Liga throughout Diego Simeone's tenure, but in 2023, things fell back into place as they finished third. Being a regular fixture in Europe's premier competition is always going to provide good money for the Spanish outfit.

Frankfurt won the Europa League in 2022 with a penalty shootout victory over Rangers, and this granted the Bundesliga outfit entry into the Champions League for the 2022/23 campaign. The club would go against the odds and qualify from their group to the knockout rounds before being knocked out by Napoli.

They only managed to finish seventh in their league, so the previously mentioned continental ventures are likely to be the biggest contributor towards their 16th place finish on this list. There is always a lot of talk about the money that comes from games being televised domestically, but there is also a lot to be said about how clubs like Frankfurt can grow through success in Europe.

It's an unbelievably exciting time to be a Newcastle United fan in 2024. Eddie Howe's introduction as manager after the club was taken over in 2021 was a genius move, evidently, as the ex-Bournemouth manager helped the Magpies go from relegation candidates to Champions League qualification. Being drawn in the group of death with PSG, Borussia Dortmund, and AC Milan - all clubs ahead of them on this list - gave Newcastle little chance of reaching the knockout rounds and the club crashed out in last place, missing out on further prize money.

There is an uphill battle for the team to qualify for European football once more as injury issues have stacked up in the north-east of England. To have not competed in any form of European football in the 2022/23 season but to still make this list is impressive in itself.

18 West Ham United

2022/23 revenue: £239.2 million

David Moyes gets a lot of stick, but the Scottish manager has had the Hammers living out the dream of competing in continental competition, even winning the Europa Conference League. With that success, not only came prize money, but also entry into the Europa League. Financially, this was vital to the Irons in 2023, although the club still remarkably saw their revenue decrease from 2021/22 to 2022/23.

Their league position of 14th was possibly largely to blame for the nine per cent drop. As previously mentioned, TV deals for the English top flight have put many Premier League clubs among the richest in the world, as shown by West Ham and Newcastle's inclusion on the list after a couple of successful years.

19 Napoli

2022/23 revenue: £232.8 million

The Serie A champions break into the top 20 after lifting their first title in over 30 years. Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were electric for Luciano Spalletti in the league, but expectations were high for the exciting team to go far in the Champions League. They were disappointed to be knocked out by AC Milan in the quarter-finals, but this will still have come with a healthy payday.

A £100 million increase in revenue is incredible to see for a club that spent many years floundering between mid-table and fourth place over the past few decades. Player sales will likely increase their finances in 2024, with Osimhen expected to depart after the 2023/24 campaign, but the most important thing will be sustaining their revenue streams.

20 Marseille

2022/23 revenue: £224.7 million

Marseille are another club to climb into the top 20 of these rankings after a third-place finish in Ligue 1. The French side used to be a regular part of the Champions League, but have had to settle for the second tier of European competition over recent years.

There was a huge increase in the club's broadcast revenue from the year prior, as this figure went from £57 million to £138 million. This makes up more than 50% of the total revenue brought in by the second team from France to make the list. They could even climb higher after reaching the Europa League knockout rounds and having the chance at another good position in Ligue 1.