The most expensive football clubs in the world: why the British dominate the ranking
5 May 16:50
Real Madrid topped the ranking of the world’s most expensive football clubs in 2025 according to CNBC. Its value reached $6.7 billion. This is reported on the TV channel’s website, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to CNBC estimates, the average cost of the 25 most expensive football teams in the world is $2.76 billion.
In total, the rating compiled by the TV channel includes 25 clubs, 11 of which are English. Three are in the top five and six are in the top ten.
1. Real Madrid, Spain ($6.7 billion)
2. Manchester United, England ($6 billion)
3. Barcelona, Spain ($5.65 billion)
4. Liverpool, England ($5.4 billion)
5. Manchester City, England ($5.2 billion)
6. Bayern Munich, Germany ($5.1 billion)
7. Paris Saint-Germain, France ($4.55 billion)
8. Arsenal, England ($4 billion)
9. Tottenham Hotspur, England ($3.55 billion)
10. Chelsea, England ($3.5 billion)
The full ranking of the most expensive clubs can be found here.
What explains the dominance of English clubs in the ranking
According to CNBC, citing its own sources, this is largely due to the fact that the Premier League has the most expensive broadcasting deals in football: its domestic and international broadcasting rights average about $4.4 billion per year.
This is more than 2 times more than the Spanish La Liga, the second largest team in the ranking.
According to CNBC sources, the next three-year cycle of Premier League broadcasting rights, starting with the 2025-26 season, will average about $5.1 billion a year.
Real Madrid is also the leader in terms of revenue
Last year, the Spanish team earned $1.13 billion in revenue, taking first place in this indicator as well.
The second position is occupied by the English Manchester City, which received revenue of $902 million. French Paris Saint-Germain is third with a result of $873 million.
According to the 2025 Deloitte Football Money League report, Real Madrid’s revenue increased by 26% compared to the 2022-23 season, partly because the completion of the reconstruction of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium led to a doubling of match revenue to $268 million.
In addition, according to Real Madrid’s annual report last year, the club earned $174 million from the Champions League, which the team won in 2024 for a record 15th time.
Two of the teams on CNBC’s list could also soon increase their revenues thanks to improved stadium economics: “Barcelona and Inter Miami of MLS. According to media reports, Barcelona, the main rival of Real Madrid, is expected to return to its renovated Camp Nou stadium in the coming months. And Inter Miami will move to the new Miami Freedom Park stadium in 2026.
For these two clubs, such changes will be of great importance given their debt levels.
Who is the biggest debtor among the top clubs?
According to CNBC, Inter Milan holds the first place in this ranking, with a debt of 33% of the club’s value of USD 1.25 billion.
The second position is occupied by Barcelona – its debt is 32% of the club’s value, which is 5.65 billion US dollars.
Tottenham Hotspur is in third place with 31% of the club’s value of USD 3.55 billion.
Inter Miami is fourth in this ranking, with 20% of the club’s value at USD 1 billion.
Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea are the only teams in the top ten without debt.
For the 22 European teams on CNBC’s list, the data is for the 2023-24 season. For the three American teams, the data is for the 2024 Major League Soccer season.
In addition, CNBC reminded that the average cost of football teams, which is 2.76 billion dollars, is significantly lower than the cost of teams playing American football and representing the US National Football League – there, the average team costs 6.5 billion dollars. The US National Basketball Association is also ahead, with an average team value of $4.7 billion. Two other American leagues are losing out to football. In Major League Baseball, the average team value is $2.6 billion, and in the National Hockey League, the value is even lower at $1.9 billion.
