Manchester United becomes first football brand to reach the billion dollar mark

Manchester United are a bigger brand than Real Madrid and Barcelona at the moment

According to a new report, Manchester United have pipped the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona to become the first football club to cross the billion-dollar mark in terms of brand value. The report also suggests that clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City are valued ahead of Arsenal.

Brand Finance list is a list which measure the brand power of teams and their ability to cash in on their global recognition. It looks like Manchester United have fared better off the field than on it as they lead the brand value list for football clubs despite not winning any trophies in the past two seasons.

Club	Rank 2015	Rank 2014	Country	Brand value 2015 (US$M)	Brand value 2014 (US$M)
Manchester United	1	3	England	1,206	739
FC Bayern Munich	2	1	Germany	933	896
Real Madrid	3	2	Spain	873	768
Manchester City	4	5	England	800	510
Chelsea	5	7	England	795	502
FC Barcelona	6	4	Spain	773	622
Arsenal	7	6	England	703	505
Liverpool	8	8	England	577	469
Paris Saint-Germain	9	10	France	541	324
Tottenham Hotspur	10	12	England	360	248
Junvetus	11	13	Italy	350	247
Borussia Dortmund	12	9	Germany	326	327
FC Schalke 04	13	11	Germany	302	313
AC Milan	14	14	Italy	244	236
Everton	15	20	England	228	121
West Ham	16	24	England	209	112
AS Monaco	17	New	France	202
Southampton	18	30	England	183	96
Galatasaray	19	17	Turkey	177	141
Inter Milan	20	15	Italy	160	152

The report also suggests that the key to United’s brand success is their unrivalled ability to attract huge sponsorship deals. The best example of this is their shirt deal with Chevrolet which stands at £47m-per-year. Last year they were third on the list but new cash-rich deals signed at the beginning of last season saw them rise to the top.

They also acted quickly when their kit deal negotiations with Nike broke down. The club reacted quickly and negotiate a deal with Adidas which proved better than the earlier one.

Adidas have signed a deal with United that is worth £750 million for the next ten years. This new deal is worth more than triple of their earlier deal with Nike which stood at £23.5 million per year.

The Old Trafford outfit has a very efficient business operation system which is the key to their success. This is where clubs like Barcelona who won the treble this season lag behind. Barcelona are rated at sixth place on the list.

European Champions Barcelona have been unable to harness their brand despite a huge brand appeal

The report says, “As glorious as Barca’s record may be, it simply has not been able to harness its brand to the same extent as rivals Real Madrid (whose brand is $100 million more valuable) or the rapidly growing English teams.”

"Thanks to sporting success and a squad stacked with legendary figures such as Messi and Neymar, Barcelona actually has the strongest brand of any club, rated AAA+ by Brand Finance.

"However ‘brand strength’ only reflects the notional potential of the brand. For a club’s brand to generate income a business team that is as star-studded and tactically brilliant as the team on the pitch is required."

This is where Manchester United leaves their rivals behind thanks to their almost unparalleled business model. All the English clubs also received a huge cash boost thanks to the new £5.14bn TV deal for the Premier League.

The deal helped West Ham to enter the top 20 for the first time and made an 86% growth from last season. Another English club who fared well commercially was Southampton who were termed as the fastest growing football brand. It is a sign of how well the club is run off the field despite losing their star players prior to last season.