United top brand league

Manchester United have once again topped the football brand league compiled by Brand Finance. Their brand value of $853m is up by 29 per cent and gives them an A+++ rating.   The list takes into account various revenue streams for clubs, such as ticket sales, merchandising, sponsorship deals and money received from the sale of broadcasting rights.


United have invested heavily in professional marketing skills, bringing in specialists from firms such as Pepsi and Disney.   There is no doubt that their brand is one of the few that has a global reach.

Manchester United have once again topped the football brand league compiled by Brand Finance. Their brand value of $853m is up by 29 per cent and gives them an A+++ rating.   The list takes into account various revenue streams for clubs, such as ticket sales, merchandising, sponsorship deals and money received from the sale of broadcasting rights.


United have invested heavily in professional marketing skills, bringing in specialists from firms such as Pepsi and Disney.   There is no doubt that their brand is one of the few that has a global reach.


Bayern Munich in second place are probably less well known globally than some clubs down the list but they are predominant in the German market.   Their brand value of $786m is not far behind that of United and went up by 59 per cent.   The club has been with Adidas for ten years.


Behind United and Bayern are the Spanish ‘El Classico’ rivals of Real Madrid, third with a value of $600m, and Barcelona, with a brand worth $500m.   Spanish champions Real and 2011 European champions Barca have seen similar decreases in the value of their brands, 7 and 8 per cent respectively, which reflects the economic crisis in Spain.


Five of the ten slots in the top ten are occupied by Premier League clubs with Chelsea in 5th place, Arsenal 6th, Liverpool 7th and Manchester City 8th.   Chelsea and Arsenal saw increases in their brand value of just under 30 per cent, but despite a disappointing season on the pitch, Liverpool’s brand value went up by 47 per cent.   However, Manchester City saw the biggest increase in value of 77 per cent but still only get a B+++ rating.


Celtic are the first Scottish club to break into the top fifty with an estimated brand value of £40.7m. Rangers were not included in the calculations this year because of their current difficulties, but those behind the Brand League are confident that they can rebuild their reputation.


Only one Italian club, AC Milan, is in the brand league at 9th place, reflecting the troubles of the Italian economy.   Napoli, valued at $85m, were the only Serie A club to increase overall brand value, coming off the back of a relatively successfuil Champions League campaign and finishing 22nd.


In Germany, FC Schalke 04 saw a 97 per cent increase in brand value and broke into the top ten.   In the United States, LA Galaxy just crept into 50th position.


For Brand Finance Dave Chattaway commented argued that there was further scope for clubs to maximise value.   Clubs had been ‘traditionally slow and unimaginative in monetizing the brand they own.’  Clubs needed to better understand the brand asset they owned.


What do you think your club’s brand is?   Or should it have one at all?