By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – The leading Spanish clubs generated more revenue from the sale of merchandising than their English counterparts in 2009-10 despite the Premier League’s global appeal, according to a report published by Sport+Markt and PR Marketing.
Clubs from Spain’s La Liga generated an estimated €190 million ($261 million/£161 million)) to hit top spot in the rankings, with nearly 80 per cent coming from Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The rest of the Spanish league is not so keenly followed, and the €168 million ($230 million/£142 million) generated in England was distributed much more evenly across a number of top-division clubs.
The clubs from the so-called European “big five” leagues in England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany generated a combined merchandising and licensing revenue of €631 million ($866 million/£533 million), which represents a six per cent increase on the previous survey.
Germany’s Bundesliga came third in the survey’s rankings with income of €130 million ($178 million/£110 million)), followed by Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1.
If the survey is to be believed – 182 clubs and 10,000 fans were apparently questioned – and popularity is judged by the memorabilia fans collect, then Real Madrid and Barcelona are the most popular clubs in Europe.
They are followed by Liverpool with Manchester United only sixth in the list of retail revenue.
Replica shirts remain the most sought-after item, with 13.7 million sold in the 2009/10 season, raking in millions for the two dominant manufacturers, Adidas and Nike.
“Jersey sales represent the core business of many clubs and are often responsible for around 50 per cent of merchandising revenue”, said Andreas Ullmann, a senior consultant at Sport+Markt.
“Cultural differences do exist regarding preferences for certain products. Russian or Ukrainian fans, for example, tend to buy more warm scarves, whilst English fans like to buy mugs bearing the logo of their favourite club.”
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