Manchester United in top 10 sports brands in the world
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Manchester United in top 10 sports brands in the world
• US brands top list of first-ever worldwide rating
• United more valuable than the Champions League
Brand United - Old Trafford.
Manchester United have been rated the eighth most valuable sports brand in the world in a new study which for the first time has assessed the comparative worths of 200 brands across the sporting spectrum.
Brands from the United States head the list compiled by SportsPro magazine, with the National Football League's value of $4.5bn (£2.75bn) ranking it No1, ahead of Major League Baseball ($3.936bn), and the National Basketball Association ($2.344bn).
United are valued at $1.495bn, three places and £200m behind the Fifa World Cup, worth $1.7bn.
The headline success story is the fledgling Indian Premier League which despite being two seasons old is rated only a place and £100m less valuable than the World Cup, the flagship property of the planet's most popular sport.
The Premier League, though, was not considered in the analysis. "The EPL and some other leagues did not make the list because they are owned by the clubs and are effectively revenue distribution entities not properties," said Tom Rubython, the editor-in-chief of SportsPro.
"As in the case of the EPL shares are returned on a team's relegation and handed over to the promoted teams. Effectively they are like a mutual – ie, an old-fashioned building society. The EPL is obviously valuable but not in a monetary sense, which is why the top teams in Europe will eventually form their own league they can actually own.
"Conversely the NFL – and all the other leagues in the table – is a permanent league with no promotion or relegation."
While the $1.55bn-valued Ferrari is the top-ranked team, a place ahead of United, the Premier League champions are ahead of formula one ($1.45bn), which is ninth, the $1.1bn Champions League (13th), and Real Madrid, worth $1.073bn in 14th place.
Arsenal is the next highest English club in 21st, with a value of $910m, six places above Liverpool ($801m). Chelsea's $634m pushes into 55th.