Football dominates the new Sunday Times sport rich list for Britain and Ireland. 57 of the 100 on the list are drawn from the ranks of players, managers and former players. Those 57 are together worth £1.25 billion. It should be noted that the way the list is compiled leaves out owners who simply buy clubs as a financial speculation or as an expensive hobby.
Football dominates the new Sunday Times sport rich list for Britain and Ireland. 57 of the 100 on the list are drawn from the ranks of players, managers and former players. Those 57 are together worth £1.25 billion. It should be noted that the way the list is compiled leaves out owners who simply buy clubs as a financial speculation or as an expensive hobby.
So the No.1 spot is not occupied by Roman Abramovich worth £7.4 billion but former Blackburn Rovers player Dave Whelan who owns Wigan and is worth a mere £190m. Sport can make you wealthy, but not mega rich. The global mega wealthy come in from outside the game to buy clubs.
Thus, courtesy of the Abarmovich millons, 10 of the list are Chelsea players, ahead of eight from Manchester United. In all, 27 players and managers are drawn from those two or Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City. Of the 57 in football, 24 are either foreign players or managers.
The only footballer in the top ten is David Beckham. In 2008, profits on the Beckham Brand soared to £5.6m on £9.8m sales. That’s a 57 per cent profit which just shows where a personal brand can get you. The same year, Beckham’s company, Footwork Productions, paid him nearly £10.8m. About a quarter of his earnings come from Asia. Forbes magazine last year put his earnings at £28m worldwide. He is thought to be easily worth £125m.
The next footballer on the list is Michael Owen who is estimated to be worth £40m. His sponsorship deal with Umbro nets him £2m a year, lifting his earnings at peak to more than £7.5m. His Owen Promotions company showed £6.8m net assets in 2008-9.