Money League: Bayern 4th and closing fast!

Club Wealth

Real Madrid €365.8m
Manchester United €324.8m
Barcelona €308.8m
Bayern Munich €295.3m
Chelsea €268.9m
Arsenal €264.4m
Liverpool €210.9m
AC Milan €209.5m
AS Roma €175.4m
Inter Milan €172.9m
Juventus €167.5m
Olympique Lyon €155.7m
Schalke 04 €148.4m
Tottenham Hotspur €145m
Hamburg SV €127.9m
Olympique Marseille €126.8m
Newcastle United €125.6m
VfB Stuttgart €111.5m
Fenerbahçe €111.3m
Manchester City €104m

Deloitte’s Football Money League for 2007/8 was released and there are four German teams on the list again this year. While Werder Bremen dropped out of the top 20, Stuttgart replaced them in 18th. Among the other teams are HSV at 15th, Schalke at 13th and FC Bayern at 4th.

Bayern’s climb is interesting as they have surpassed Chelsea and Arsenal and now only sit behind Real Madrid, Manchester United and Barcelona. What makes the climb most pleasant is that Arsenal, much like the Bavarian club has a new stadium; however, even with a comparable new infrastructure to aid revenues, Bayern have surpassed the London club with cheaper ticketing during a year when they did not have Champion’s League revenue. With the return to Champions League this year, we may well see Munich surpass Barcelona (unless they deservedly win the UCL) and possibly United.

The stadium infrastructure set in place for the World Cup has seen an increase of two teams in Deloitte’s League for the Bundesliga. And there are yet gains to be made. For instance, Borussia Dortmund, one of the giants of the game, are emerging from a decade of financial trouble and should, and most likely will, join this table in the near future, seeing as they have one of the largest stadiums in Europe. Meanwhile Koln only returned to the top flight this year and with the beautiful RheinEnergieStadion, they are only a top 3 finish away from joining this list. And who know what a Championship could do for Hertha Berlin.

Stuttgart, it should be noted, joined this table despite not having renovated for 2006. The renovation that is expected to finish in 2011 could see Stuttgart jump even higher on this list, although missing out on this year’s UCL might hurt them next year.

Any ideas on who else might be poised to join, please comment. I would love to hear your opinion. Also, if expenditure to revenue were factored, would all 16 Bundesliga sides make the list?