On Wednesday, global soccer powerhouse FC Barcelona reported its annual financial results, which included record revenue of 530 million euros ($710 million) for the 2013-14 season. It is the first time the club passed 500 million euros and marks the highest annual revenue in the history of team sports. The previous high was Real Madrid's 521 million euros for the 2012-13 season (Real is expected to report its latest results in September, which will likely challenge Barca's new record). The top American sports franchises by revenue are the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys, who are both likely to have gross revenue (before revenue sharing and debt payments) around $600 million in 2014. Barcelona has tripled revenue over the past decade while capturing three Champions League crowns on the back and feet of four-time world player of the year Lionel Messi.
Commercial and sponsorship deals are fueling much of Barca's growth. Barcelona and other elite soccer clubs like Real and Manchester United sign sponsorship deals around the globe. The Yankees and Cowboys are powerful brands, but they don't play very well outside the U.S. Barcelona has regional sponsorship deals in India (
The global presence of these soccer clubs can be viewed through their social media presence. Barcelona (71 million), Real (68 million) and United (54 million) have the three biggest Facebook followings among sports teams. The top NFL team is the Cowboys at eight million. These levels of devotion allow Europe’s top soccer clubs to tap every corner of the global for sponsorship deals and to sell merchandise around the world.
Two holes in Barcelona's commercial arsenal are Russia and Brazil, where it has no official partners. Faus says that Messi could be used to open up the Russian market. Barcelona has a natural fit for Brazil in Neymar, who Barca secured last year from his Brazilian club Santos for a transfer fee of $124 million. The 22-year-old winger's popularity is soaring with only Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo bigger stars in the sport right now.
During his presentation of the results, Faus highlighted Barcelona's move in Forbes' annual look at the world's most valuable sports teams. Barca has jumped from 24th to second since 2010 and is worth $3.2 billion. Only Real Madrid ranks ahead of Barcelona at $3.4 billion. “We have grown more than any other club in the world,” Faus said. “And we are the only club with so much potential to improve our contracts, and that will help to reinforce our global presence.”
Barcelona's matchday revenue is headed up too. The club members who own the team, called socios, approved an $800 million renovation of the team’s Nou Camp stadium in April. The project will add a roof to the stadium, as well as a development around the venue. The plan calls for more than 5,000 additional seats, bringing capacity to 105,000. The project is set to begin in 2017 and be completed in 2021.
