Man Utd overhaul Barca, Real Madrid as Europe's biggest earner

Manchester United enjoyed the biggest revenue of any European club in the last financial year after a 32% increase propelled them above Real Madrid and Barcelona, Uefa said in an annual report published Tuesday. The European Club Football Landscape report said revenues among Europe's 700-odd top-flight clubs totalled 18.5bn euros ($22.7bn) for 2016, compared to 16.9bn the year before and 2.8bn in 1996. However, the report acknowledged that nearly half that amount - 9.1bn euros - was generated by 30 clubs and that the financial gap between the elite ones and the rest was increasing. English Premier League television revenues were now such that mid-table Bournemouth earned the same as three-time European champion Inter Milan. United's revenue for 2016 was 689m euros, compared to 521m euros in 2015, the report said.

.@ManUtd enjoyed the biggest revenue of any European club in the last financial year after a 32 percent increase propelled them above @realmadrid and @FCBarcelona https://t.co/neBYiFQQQm

— FirstpostSports (@FirstpostSports) January 17, 2018

United were followed by Barca and Real (both 620m), Bayern Munich (592m), Paris St Germain (542m) and Manchester City (533m). United's operating profit of 232m euros was also the highest followed by Real, PSG, Bayern, Arsenal and City. United was also burdened with the highest net debt of 561m euros, ahead of Benfica, Inter, Juventus and Liverpool. The report confirmed that the EPL enjoys by far the highest revenues in Europe, averaging 244.4m euros per club. Next was Germany's Bundesliga with 149.6m per club followed by Spain (126.3m) and Italy (100.2m)

Manchester United surpass Real Madrid, Barcelona as highest earning club https://t.co/u8GTpcdFzP

— Premium Times (@PremiumTimesng) January 17, 2018

Revenues fell dramatically elsewhere, even in traditional football nations such as the Netherlands (26.7m) and Portugal (20.3m). Greek clubs earned an average of 8.9m euros while figures for Eastern Europe were even lower at 5m euros for Hungary, 4.4m for Czech Republic and 1.5m for Slovenia. "Once more, we cannot help but note that the polarisation of commercial and sponsorship revenues between the top tier of clubs and the rest is accelerating," Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said. "As the guardians of the game, Uefa must ensure that football remains competitive even as financial gaps are augmented by globalisation and technological change." Uefa analyst Sefton Perry said "only a limited number of clubs are able to fully exploit the enormous commercial opportunities offered by the global market".

Manchester United overtake Real Madrid and Barcelona revenues after huge increase in 2017 https://t.co/d1pmLGPtdX pic.twitter.com/wbRnW1jmoE

— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) January 17, 2018

Sixteen of the top 20 clubs in terms of domestic broadcast revenues were English with United top on 146m, edging out Real and Barca. Bournemouth earned 99m euros, level with Inter who, along with Juve, were the only Serie A side in the top 20. The report confirmed that transfer spending reached record levels of almost 5.6bn euros in the European summer of 2017, including six of the top 20 most expensive transfers ever recorded. Arsenal were the club who made the most from paying fans. Uefa said their yield of 97.8 euros per spectator was the highest in Europe, followed by Chelsea, Real, Liverpool, Bayern, United, Barca, Galatasaray, City and West Ham United.