Real Madrid-Manchester City: a duel between two brands that move US$868 million

Real Madrid and Manchester City The quarterfinals of the Champions League begin at the renovated Santiago Bernabéu. For many it is the early final in sports, and In terms of business they are numbers 1 and 2 in the world football industry.

Between them they invoiced US$1.8 billion in business (transfer of footballers apart) in 2022-2023, with the whites somewhat ahead, with US$903 million compared to the US$897 million of the citizens.

Of this rising business – both grew 16% year-on-year in the last season – there is one line of income that stands out from the rest. Commercial growth (sponsorships, merchandising, licenses…) is already the main item of the two teams: Real Madrid had a turnover of US$358.5 million in 2022-2023, compared to the US$429 million of the current European champion. Despite its sporting hat trick, the City brand remained at the forefront of the business with an increase of 10%, and 16% more than its rival.

At this point the great common partner that both teams have comes into play. Although they differ in many aspects, such as the government model and the Super League, Real Madrid and Manchester City travel to the United Arab Emirates to sign their main contracts.

Pep Guardiola’s team is directly owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family; and the social club chaired by Florentino Pérez has as its main sponsor Emirates, a Dubai airline controlled by the royal family of the City owner’s wife.

The second main line of income for both is television, with special impact of UEFA payments, the money they receive for their participation in the Champions League, and which usually endows more than US$141 million to the champion. In this audiovisual game, City wins again with US$377,299 million, compared to Real’s US$33.5 million.

Finally, in terms of ordinary business, the flag of European football is in the stadiums. These gigantic spaces that until a few years ago were only used about 50 days a year. In this sense, both Resl Madrid and City are working on the complete renovation of their fields to convert them into entertainment facilities (more than sports) and spaces for events.

The works on the new Bernabéu are advancing adequately, while citizens have a US$380 million project to reaffirm the stadium, the Etihad Stadium, another airline, which also has a presence on the front of the shirt.

Salary bill of US$1.1 billion

To support such strong and global brands, both clubs also bring together top-level footballers with whom, among other things, they activate million-dollar sponsorships. Before the foreseeable arrival of Kylian Mbappe, Madrid has exceeded US$543 million for years. In the last season, it stood at US$567 million, and for the present the forecast was to raise it to US$666 million, 17% more. At this point there are two proper names: Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham, for whom he paid more than $196 million in the last two summers. In addition, the entity carried out long-term renewals of many of its young starters; among them, that of Vínicius until 2027.

For its part, City is one of the clubs that has spent the most money on transfers in the last decade. Their salary bill already exceeded US$715 million last season, 26% higher than that of Real Madrid. However, the Manchester club is beginning to turn around the balance of the transfer markets. Last summer it made a profit of US$153 million from player sales. Meanwhile, Madrid took out US$79.8 million. For this season, the forecast is to reach US$94.5 million due to player departures and thus being the first football club to reach US$1.1 billion in turnover without extraordinary levers or sales of assets, such as the one that the white club itself used to place 30% of the company that will operate the new Bernabéu to Legends and Sixth Street for $391 million.