Don't know if this has been posted already (it probably has somewhere around here). But anyway, I found this list published by Bloomberg.com of the top 30 clubs in the world in terms of market and brand value (valued in millions of pounds).

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Manchester United, the record 19- time English soccer champion planning an initial public offering later this year, has climbed above Real Madrid in a survey of Europe’s top 30 teams by brand value.

The annual report published by Brand Finance Plc gives United a brand valuation of 412 million pounds ($644 million), up 11 percent from last year. Real, which has a policy of signing some soccer’s biggest names like Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, has a brand estimated to be worth 401 million pounds, with European champion Barcelona third at 392 million pounds.

United’s strength has been underpinned by its success on the field, where it’s won the Premier League in four of the last five seasons, and the results of a commercial division that enjoyed an annual increase of 27 percent to top 100 million pounds for the first time. Earlier this month the team announced a sponsorship agreement for its training apparel worth 40 million pounds with logistics company DHL.

“The commercial team at United have developed such a compelling and well-protected brand that global partners are willing to pay premium sums to be affiliated with the champions,” said Brand Finance, which advises companies like brewer SABMiller Plc and bank Standard Chartered Plc. “In the upcoming IPO, we would expect the brand strength of United to feature prominently in the investment story.”

United is planning to raise $1 billion later this year by floating as much as 30 percent of the club in an IPO on the Singapore stock exchange.

While United may have a stronger brand than Real, the team owned by the U.S.-based Glazer family isn’t making the most money. It’s behind both Real and Barcelona in terms of revenue, according to a list published by accountant Deloitte LLP in February. Real last week announced record sales of 480 million euros ($654 million), more than any other team in professional sport. United had revenue of 331.4 million pounds, according to a Sept. 1 filing.

Most Improved

Brand Finance said the most improved soccer brand in the past 12 months is United’s cross-town rival Manchester City. The team owned by billionaire Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has lavished millions of pounds on talent to make it a contender at home and abroad and has qualified for Europe’s lucrative Champions League for the first time.

In August, City signed the biggest partnership deal in sport, a decade-long agreement worth more than 350 million pounds with Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad. The report ranks City 11th, up from 19th, with a brand value that’s almost doubled to 106 million pounds.

City’s rise can be attributed to a combination of “huge sponsorship deals, star signings, Champions League football and a first trophy in 35 years,” the report said.

Top Ten

Bayern Munich, Germany’s richest and most successful team, is fourth on the list, ahead of London teams Chelsea and Arsenal. The Italian trio of AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus and Liverpool complete the top ten. The total brand value of all 30 teams is worth 1.5 billion pounds, according to the report.

Still, that figure “alone has little immediate application to football clubs,” according to Brand Finance. Clubs must invest in “servicing the brand” if they are to monetize the strength of the brand. Manchester United’s commercial division has grown from two to more than 40 since the Glazers bought the team in 2005.

“Within the branding industry they are not doing anything unique,” Dave Chattaway, one of the report’s authors said in an interview. “They are just taking best practice from companies like Apple, Prada, heavily branded industries and bringing it into the sports industry.”

The report, which is in its 6th edition, defined “brand” as the teams’ trademarks and intellectual property. Of the team’s that make up the top 30, Brand Finance has undertaken paid consultancy work for Manchester United and Portugal’s Benfica.

1. Manchester United 412
2. Real Madrid 401
3. Barcelona 392
4. Bayern Munich 308
5. Chelsea 196
6. Arsenal 188
7. AC Milan 170
8. Inter Milan 164
9. Liverpool 156
10. Juventus 115
11. Manchester City 106
12. FC Schalke 84
13. Hamburg 84
14. Tottenham 79
15. Borussia Dortmund 78
16. Lyon 76
17. Marseille 74
18. Roma 63
19. Atletico Madrid 55
20. Stuttgart 51
21. Valencia 50
22. Bordeaux 48
23. Ajax 46
24. Napoli 43
25. Aston Villa 43
26. Werder Bremen 42
27. Everton 38
28. Benfica 36
29. Fiorentina 35
30. Lazio 34

our marketing sucks and yet we are always in top 10.

Unbelievable just how far ahead United, Barca and Madrid are.

If only the Milano teams owned their stadium..

InterMalia wrote:If only the Milano teams owned their stadium..

But it isn't the value of the clubs, but of the brands themselves, I think. It's in terms of the teams' marketing capabilities.

ErPupone wrote:

InterMalia wrote:If only the Milano teams owned their stadium..

But it isn't the value of the clubs, but of the brands themselves, I think. It's in terms of the teams' marketing capabilities.

In that case all teams are way of the level of the top 4. Surprised the 3rd best league in the world has only 1 team in the top ten.

RealGunner wrote:our marketing sucks and yet we are always in top 10.

Prem marketing is top notch. There are a lot of bandwagoners since Henry/Bergkamp, that ll just keep spending, as long as you appear in CL.

There were questionnaires on most loved football club, and every year Arsenal is in top 3. UEFA sponsored questionnaires

Considering how relatively low-profile Roma is as a club...18th is quite good. I'll take it.

lol and Madrid aren't even wining titles.....

Show's how far down we have gone since Sir Bobby was wrongly sacked we always used to be in these lists back then

leeds was in top 5 back in the days

McLewis wrote:Considering how relatively low-profile Roma is as a club...18th is quite good. I'll take it.

a few years ago Roma used to be 11th,,,i am actually dissapointed by this decline...and how is Roma lowprofile club? this summer roma has been one of the most.talked about clubs in europe\world

this shows the strenght or competitvness of the leagues too in some way...

in the top 30

england has 8 teams
italy 7
germany 5
spain 4
france 3

liverpool lower than expected.

InterMalia wrote:If only the Milano teams owned their stadium..

Our stadium is co-owned as well.

The BoyWonder wrote:

McLewis wrote:Considering how relatively low-profile Roma is as a club...18th is quite good. I'll take it.

a few years ago Roma used to be 11th,,,i am actually dissapointed by this decline...and how is Roma lowprofile club? this summer roma has been one of the most.talked about clubs in europe\world

Ya but this is just evaluating the club's image rights, not actual strength. Ya a lot of people talked about Roma, but we haven't had great worldwide exposure since we didn't go out and buy the Ronaldo's and Kaka's. This is just showing the monetary value of the club's image.

Gil wrote:Unbelievable just how far ahead United, Barca and Madrid are.

Also unbelievable just how far ahead Bayern is from the rest

stuttgart valued higher than us?

STUTTGART?!

jesus christ...

beware of PSG and Anzhi in the coming years. they are gonna stroll up this list to near the top...Man City obviously will get higher too, I think Juve and Roma will get higher as well with their new stadia and new owner respectivly...also Malaga will overtake Atletico and Valencia...this looks interisting...i doubt the top 4 can be touched, but from 5th to top 15 anything can change...

The BoyWonder wrote:beware of PSG and Anzhi in the coming years. they are gonna stroll up this list to near the top...Man City obviously will get higher too, I think Juve and Roma will get higher as well with their new stadia and new owner respectivly...also Malaga will overtake Atletico and Valencia...this looks interisting...i doubt the top 3 can be touched, but from 4th to top 15 anything can change...

4th cant be touch as well, there is a bigger gap between 4th and 5th than 3rd and 4th.

You must have acknowledge that before, but just wanted to ignore it.

I was shocked by Everton's rank given their financial situation and the loss of star players like Arteta.

Idrisozet wrote:

The BoyWonder wrote:beware of PSG and Anzhi in the coming years. they are gonna stroll up this list to near the top...Man City obviously will get higher too, I think Juve and Roma will get higher as well with their new stadia and new owner respectivly...also Malaga will overtake Atletico and Valencia...this looks interisting...i doubt the top 3 can be touched, but from 4th to top 15 anything can change...

4th cant be touch as well, there is a bigger gap between 4th and 5th than 3rd and 4th.

You must have acknowledge that before, but just wanted to ignore it.

yes ur rite...didnt notice the gap between 4th and 5th...

their ranking are way off from deloittes...... arsenal are valued 274 Euros by them....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deloitte_Football_Money_League

revenue =/= brand value

RealGunner wrote:our marketing sucks and yet we are always in top 10.

wenger buys kids. kids around the world adore arsenal because they relate to the players

McLewis wrote:Considering how relatively low-profile Roma is as a club...18th is quite good. I'll take it.

agreed

The BoyWonder wrote:how is Roma lowprofile club? this summer roma has been one of the most.talked about clubs in europe\world

we're still lowprofile even now. we don't spend big. osvaldo is our biggest spending and he's not really a well known player. same goes for pjanic, gago, kjaer, etc. we don't buy superstars. thats what makes us different from the man city's, anzhi's, and malaga's