The Untouchables: Why 4 Soccer Teams Rake In So Much Sponsor Cash

As Manchester United and Manchester City prepare for the "most expensive" soccer match ever on Saturday -- the players on the field cost the teams $850 million to acquire -- a two-tiered sponsorship system is developing in international football. Four teams -- Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich -- are able to command €100 million or more in annual sponsorship revenue from advertisers, according to Deloitte's annual football finance analysis. The others -- including massive international brands like Arsenal, Chelsea F.C. and Liverpool F.C. -- get the crumbs.

Here are the top 20 clubs by total revenue, which includes ticket sales and broadcasting fees:

"Crumbs" is a relative term in football, of course -- It means €76 million or less. The point is that there's a yawning gap between the top four clubs' commercial revenues and everyone else's. While Liverpool took in €76 million last year from its Standard Chartered (STAN.L) sponsorship, among others, other clubs struggle to raise more than €50 million. When you isolate the commercial/sponsorship revenue streams alone, it becomes obvious how difficult it is for even the top 20 clubs to compete with Real, Barca, Man. Utd. and Bayern:

Commercial Revenues Alone:

1. Real Madrid: €150.8m (£123.5m)
2. FC Barcelona: €122.2m (£100.0m)
3. Manchester United: €99.4m (£81.4m)
4. Bayern Munich: €172.9m (£141.6m)
5. Arsenal: €53.7m (£44.0m)
6. Chelsea: €68.8m (£56.3m)
7. AC Milan: €63.4m (£51.9m)
8. Liverpool: €75.8m (£62.1m)
9. Inter Milan: €48.3m (£39.6m)
10. Juventus: €55.6m (£45.5m)

• Manchester United appears to be undervaluing its sponsorship deals. It has far more fans internationally than Real Madrid but gets one third less for its advertisers.
• Real's broadcasting revenue is higher than the total revenue of half of the Money League clubs
• Barcelona increased its 2nd place lead over Manchester United from €38.9m in 2008/09 to €48.3m (£39.5m).
• Bayern Munich's €172.9m in commercial revenue is the highest of any club.

The madness is only set to get worse after Saturday's Manchester derby, the Wall Street Journal reported:

Next month's match between Manchester City and Chelsea will shoot past it to set a new combined record of about $900 million. By the time Manchester United and Chelsea (combined player investment: over $800 million) square off in two upcoming matches this season, the Derby will have fallen to fourth-place on the all-time list.

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