Manchester United becomes the first football billion dollar brand

Barcelona, despite huge gains in Brand Strength
thanks to their success in La Liga, the Copa del
Rey and the Champions League, have slipped
behind Chelsea and Manchester City in the Brand
Value stakes.
Despite shooting up from $622m in 2013 to
$773m this time around (24% growth), the Premie
League clubs' huge gains (58% for Chelsea, 57%
for Man City) have claimed another European

powerhouse.
The Catalans, though, are indeed ranked
as the
most powerful football brand on the planet above
rivals Real Madrid. Traditional European
powerhouses, boosted by impressive Champions
League showings, dominate the top five, with
Manchester United the only representative. Despite two consecutive trophyless seasons, the
Red Devils have leapfrogged both Bayern Munich
and Real Madrid to top Brand Finance's 2014
Football 50 ranking
Manchester United have been named the most
valuable football club in the world and have
become the first "billion dollar" brand in the sport.
The Red Devils reclaimed their place at the top of
Brand Finance's Football 50 Brand Value ranking,
despite a transitional and trophyless season under
new manager Louis van Gaal, and are now worth
an all-time high $1.2bn - a staggering growth of
64 per cent.
From third in the previous analysis, United
leapfrogged Bayern Munich and Real Madrid , both
beaten Champions League semi-finalists, to regai
top spot even though they missed out on
European football altogether in the 2013-14
campaign. Madrid have also been pipped to top
spot in a separate Brand Power ranking, this time
by rivals Barcelona.
United first claimed top spot in the Brand Value
stakes in 2009 after winning the Champions
League a year previously, and recorded their
previous highest brand value of $853m in 2012
following success in the Premier League and
second place in Europe's top club competition.