- Title: Real, Barca top Forbes rich list
- Date: 11th May 2016
- Summary: JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES (MAY 11, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL OZANIAN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF FORBES MEDIA AND MANAGING EDITOR OF FORBES SPORTS MONEY, SAYING: "Spain, it gets a lot of TV money, that's what helps it sign players like Ronaldo and Messi. If you look at the new players going to Manchester City, very important because Manchester City this year is going to qualify for next year's Champions League, therefore they know they're going to have the money so they can sign a top player to keep him and that should perpetuate their good performance. So it almost gets to be a vicious cycle."
- Embargoed: 26th May 2016 21:18
- Keywords: Real Madrid Barcelona Manchester United Forbes Bayern Munich Arsenal Manchester City Leicester City AC Milan
- Location: JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES / MADRID + BARCELONA, SPAIN / MANCHESTER + LEICESTER CITY, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / MILAN, ITALY / PAZOVA, SERBIA / MUNICH, GERMANY
- City: JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES / MADRID + BARCELONA, SPAIN / MANCHESTER + LEICESTER CITY, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / MILAN, ITALY / PAZOVA, SERBIA / MUNICH, GERMANY
- Country: Various
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0044HD93RB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: European champions Real Madrid are the world's most valuable soccer club for a fourth straight year, according to a Forbes.com poll released on Wednesday (May 11).
The Spanish club's value fell 3 percent to $3.64 billion (USD) but their $694 million in revenue, the highest of any sports team in the world, was enough to keep them at the top of the list.
"If you look at the top players like Ronaldo and Messi, it's no surprise that Real and Barcelona are consistently sitting atop La Liga as well as making the Champions League. Spain, it gets a lot of TV money, that's what helps it sign players like Ronaldo and Messi. If you look at the new players going to Manchester City, very important because Manchester City this year is going to qualify for next year's Champions League, therefore they know they're going to have the money so they can sign a top player to keep him and that should perpetuate their good performance. So it almost gets to be a vicious cycle," explained the executive editor of Forbes Media, Michael Ozanian - the man in charge of putting the list together.
Barcelona ($3.54 billion), Manchester United ($3.31 billion), Bayern Munich ($2.67 billion) and Arsenal ($2.01 billion) rounded out the top five.
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi opened exclusive talks on Tuesday with a group of Chinese investors about selling a majority stake in soccer club AC Milan, one of the media mogul's most cherished assets.
Berlusconi's family holding company Fininvest said it signed a memorandum with the Chinese consortium at a board meeting on Tuesday to "kick off in-depth negotiations." Fininvest gave no deadline but a source close to the matter told Reuters the talks would last one month and were non-binding.
Ozanian predicted the stake would sell before the end of the summer for somewhere around $825 to $840 million.
"AC Milan is a great example of a team today, that was like Manchester City or Chelsea, five, 10 years ago. It's an undervalued brand. The team has been losing a lot of money, Berlusconi needs a new stadium and he doesn't want to put in any of his personal wealth, I should say anymore of his personal wealth to fund losses and to build a new stadium," Ozanian said.
The 10 most valuable soccer teams according to Forbes.com (in billions USD):
1. Real Madrid $3.64
2. Barcelona $3.54
3. Manchester United $3.31
4. Bayern Munich $2.67
5. Arsenal $2.01
6. Manchester City $1.92
7. Chelsea $1.66
8. Liverpool $1.54
9. Juventus $1.29
10. Tottenham Hotspur $1.01 - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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