If you’re FC Barcelona, do you want the good news first, or bad news? The good news is that, according to Deloitte’s annual report for the world's richest soccer teams 2021, Barcelona was the highest-earning club in 2020! The bad news is that total revenue was decreased by nearly $153 million, a precipitous fall of 15 percent from 2019’s earnings. Oh, and you’re also $1.46 billion in debt.
While the situation isn’t as dire as British tabloids would lead you to believe by way of cleverly employing the caps lock on “BANKRUPT” in their headlines, the precariousness of the situation is laid bare by the fact that 74 percent of Barça’s revenue is tied up in player wages and the club reportedly had to defer paying full salaries in December.
What the club needs now is to sell millions of these special edition El Clásico jerseys and get Carles Puyol back in the heart of defense.
Look who's back!
@Carles5Puyol unveils our new #ElClásico special edition jersey! ❤️— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 26, 2021
Barcelona has more than enough cards in their hand to rectify the situation — a truly global profile, property assets, facilities, a myriad of players that can be sold — but 2021 is going to be another lean year and Real Madrid will almost certainly take the top spot come 2022.
It’ll be tough for Barça to catch up from there as Real’s redevelopment of the Santiago Bernabéu is nearing completion whereas the construction of the New Camp Nou (the Espai Barça project) currently looks like a Josep Maria Bartomeu fever dream.
World's Richest Soccer Teams 2021 (2020 Revenue)
#1. FC Barcelona — $870.43
#2. Real Madrid — $870.19
#3. Bayern Munich — $771.84
#4. Manchester United — $706.47
#5. Liverpool — $679.94
#6. Manchester City — $668.5
#7. PSG — $658
#8. Chelsea — $571.73
#9. Tottenham — $542.51
#10. Juventus — $484.33
#11. Arsenal — $472.28
#12. Borussia Dortmund — $445.14
#13. Atlético Madrid — $403.87
#14. Inter Milan — $354.82
#15. Zenit — $287.87
#16. Schalke — $271.2
#17. Everton — $258.1
#18. Lyon — $219.95
#19. Napoli — $214.6
#20. Eintracht Frankfurt — $211.8
#21. Valencia — $209.48
#22. Leicester City — $208.14
#23. Benfica — $207.29
#24. Mönchengladbach — $204.37
#25. Crystal Palace — $196.34
#26. West Ham — $192.32
#27. Ajax — $189.28
#28. Sheffield United — $185
#29. Wolverhampton — $184
#30. AC Milan — $180.76
Changes from last year: In the top 10, Bayern Munich overtook Manchester United in the third spot, while Liverpool climbed from seventh to fifth (overtaking Manchester City and PSG in the process). The new additions to the top 20 are Zenit and Eintracht, while Roma and West Ham fell out. (Roma isn’t even in the top 30 after landing in 16th last year.)
