Real Madrid Lead Barcelona, Manchester United on Forbes' 2016 Football Rich List
Real Madrid are the most valuable football team in the world for the fourth year running, with La Liga rivals Barcelona close behind in second and Premier League giants Manchester United third.
According to Forbes magazine's Mike Ozanian, the Madrid outfit is valued at $3.65 billion (£2.53 billion), a 12 per cent increase on 2015. The full top 10 includes six teams from the Premier League, two from La Liga and one each from Serie A and the Bundesliga:
| # | Team | Value ($) |
| 1 | Real Madrid | 3.65 billion |
| 2 | Barcelona | 3.56 billion |
| 3 | Manchester United | 3.32 billion |
| 4 | Bayern Munich | 2.68 billion |
| 5 | Arsenal | 2.02 billion |
| 6 | Manchester City | 1.92 billion |
| 7 | Chelsea | 1.66 billion |
| 8 | Liverpool | 1.55 billion |
| 9 | Juventus | 1.3 billion |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1.02 billion |
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German champions Bayern Munich sit in fourth place, a considerable way back from United, while Arsenal fill out the top five.
Tottenham Hotspur are the only new side in the top 10 compared to last year, with the north London club replacing AC Milan in the 10th spot.
Per Ozanian, the average value of the top 20 most valuable football teams in the world is now $1.44 billion (just shy of £1 billion), a 24 per cent increase on last year.
With television, sponsorship and kit deals on the rise, club values increase accordingly.
The payouts for progress in the UEFA Champions League are also getting bigger, with this year's finalists, Real and Atletico Madrid, set to earn over $100 million (£69.4 million) each from the competition, per Ozanian.
Indeed, the winner of this year's final—previewed below by Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe and Dean Jones—will be awarded €15 million (£11.9 million), compared to the €10.5 million (£8.3 million) Barcelona received for claiming the famous trophy last term, per UEFA's official website:
Despite not having won the Premier League since 2013—and subsequently finishing seventh, fourth and most likely fifth in 2016—United remain by far the most valuable English side in the world.
Forbes' estimate for the Manchester outfit of $3.32 billion (£2.3 billion) is double that of last season's title winners, Chelsea ($1.66 billion, £1.15 billion), and it far eclipses neighbours and 2013-14 Premier League champions, Manchester City ($1.92 billion, £1.33 billion).
In no small part, that is thanks to United's recent record-breaking kit deal with Adidas, worth £750 million over 10 years, per the MailOnline's Mike Keegan.
The proliferation of Premier League sides in the top 10 is down to the division's huge advantage in television money, set to increase further when the latest deal, worth £5.136 billion, kicks in from next season, per BBC News.
Real's dominance as the world's richest football club—and the second-most valuable sports outfit behind the Dallas Cowboys—could soon be under threat from Barca.
According to Ozanian, the Catalan club "may soon overtake their Spanish rival because of a $400 million (£277.6 million) remaking of its home grounds, Camp Nou, which is expected to be completed in about five years."
