Brand value of top soccer clubs worldwide 2022

In 2022, Real Madrid held their position as the most valuable football club brand in the world with a brand value of 1,636.56 million U.S. dollars, closely followed by Barcelona with a brand value of 1,421.93 million U.S. dollars. Over the last years, the commercial revenue stream has consistently been one of the largest sources of revenue for Real Madrid, contributing approximately 359.6 million euros to the club's total revenue in 2019/20. Considering the impact of the the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on broadcasting and matchday revenue streams, the predominantly commercial revenue distribution may explain the continued success of Real Madrid as the most valuable football brand in the world.

What is brand value?

The brand is defined as the trademark and associated intellectual property. Brand value as presented within this statistic was calculated using the Royalty Relief method. This approach assumes the company does not own its brand and must license it from a theoretical third party. The method determines how much it would cost to do this. It is called the Royalty Relief method because when a business owns their brand, they are “relieved” from paying a “royalty” rate for its use.

Impact of COVID-19 on professional football

Over the last several years, broadcasting revenue has consistently been the greatest source of revenue for clubs within the English Premier League, shortly followed by commercial and matchday revenue. The prolonged hiatus to professional football and the subsequent lack of in-person attendance resulting from global COVID-19 containment measures significantly impacted the amount of revenue generated through these sources.