Manchester United have been ranked as the club with the third largest enterprise value in European football
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
The miserable season that Manchester United have endured on the pitch has done little to impact the strength of the business as a whole it seems.
A 15th placed finish in the Premier League, defeat in the Europa League final last week which denied them Champions League football, or any European football next season for that matter, and a requirement to player-trade their way through the coming summer transfer window has led to what has been the worst season for 51 years at Old Trafford.
Since Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival as a co-owner in December 2023, when he paid £1.2bn for 27.7% of the club, a series of cost-cutting measures have been put in place to try and stop the haemorrhaging of cash at the club, although the turnaround is going to take longer than many thought.
But the club retains a position as one of the biggest brands in world football, and indeed world sport. It is a club that has held its valuation reasonably well despite its travails.
Budapest-based Football Benchmark this week published its 10th annual Football Valuation Report, which ranks European clubs based on their enterprise value, which is essentially the total value of a club’s equity plus its net debt.
How football clubs should be valued is something that has been the cause of great debate among owners and investors, but enterprise value is a common way of measuring the value of any business.
In the case of Manchester United, the Red Devils sit third on the list with an enterprise value of £4.2bn, behind only Manchester City in second (£4.24bn), and Real Madrid way out in first place (£5.22bn).
Football Benchmark’s report asserts that United’s enterprise value has risen by 4% year on year, but even with that being the case, the £1.2bn sum paid by Ratcliffe in late 2023 has diminished as an investment, although his play remains very much a long-term one, with the plans for a new 100,000-seater stadium to replace Old Trafford core to that.
Football Benchmark’s own methodology, uses a revenue-multiple approach to valuing clubs, with annual operating revenue multiplied by a number that is benchmarked against clubs from the same league that have recently been bought or are publicly listed, such as Manchester United.
There is then Football Benchmark's proprietary algorithm that looks at five parameters, which are profitability, popularity on social media, sporting potential as defined by squad value, the strength of the league’s TV deals and stadium ownership.
Founder and CEO of Football Benchmark, Andrea Sartori, commented on the findings of the report, making reference to that fact that while revenues may be climbing, many clubs remain unprofitable amid heavy loss making.
“Profitability remains a key challenge,” he commented.
“The aggregate net result of the top 32 clubs is still negative, largely due to squad costs growing at a faster pace than operating revenues over the past decade (78% vs. 72%).”
Other Premier League clubs to feature in the top 10 of the list included Liverpool in sixth (£3.5bn), Arsenal in seventh (£3.33bn), ninth-placed Tottenham Hotspur (£3.04bn) and Chelsea in 10th (£2.51bn).
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