FC Barcelona is the fourth most valuable sports club in the world according to the prestigious North American magazine Forbes, specialised in the world of business and finance. The publication has made its annual survey that analyses the economic worth of the biggest sports clubs in the world and creates a list of the 50 most valuable clubs. Barça are fourth on this list with a value of $3.64 billion, which is a 2% increase on the previous year. This leaves the Catalan club behind the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and the MLB’s New York Yankees, with $4.2 billion and $3.7 billion respectively, and another football team, Manchester United. The English team has benefited from a new TV rights deal that has seen it grow 11% from 2016 to reach $3.69 billion. The difference between between Manchester United and Barça is only $50 million.

Forbes produces a list annualy and takes into account TV rights, player contracts and costs among other parameters. This year, the list features 29 teams from the NFL, eight from the MLB, seven from the NBA, and seven from European football. Manchester United is the third biggest sports club in the world and the biggest football team. They are followed by Barça in fourth and Real Madrid in fifth, who lost first place in 2016 to the Dallas Cowboys after having been top for three years running. The next football club is Bayern Munich in 15th place, followed by Manchester City in 35th, Arsenal in 43rd, and Chelsea in 46th.

The NFL’s Dallas Cowboys first place confirms that the American football league is the most profitable in the world. Further evidence of this is the fact that 29 of the 32 teams in the NFL are in Forbes’ top 50 ranking. In an international context, FC Barcelona are well ahead of all the NBA sides, with their top team, the New York Knicks, coming in in seventh place. Moreover, they are only behind one MLB club, the North-American baseball league’s historic franchise the New York Yankees.

Forbes reported that the cut-off point to be a part of this elite group of the most valuable clubs was higher than ever at $1.75 billion. There are 36 clubs who are worth over $1 billion and haven’t made it into this exclusive group. The main reason for the growth of sports club is due to TV rights deals, especially in the Premier League and the NBA.

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List of the 20 most valuable clubs in the world:

1. Dallas Cowboys, $4.2 billion, 5% (NFL)

2. New York Yankees, $3.7 billion, 9% (MLB)

3. Manchester United, $3.69 billion, 11% (Soccer)

4. Barcelona, $3.64 billion, 2% (Soccer)

5. Real Madrid, $3.58 billion, -2% (Soccer)

6. New England Patriots, $3.4 billion, 6% (NFL)

7. New York Knicks, $3.3 billion, 10% (NBA)

8. New York Giants, $3.1 billion, 11% (NFL)

9. San Francisco 49ers, $3 billion, 11% (NFL)

9. Los Angeles Lakers, $3 billion, 11% (NBA)

11. Washington Redskins, $2.95 billion, 4% (NFL)

12. Los Angeles Rams, $2.9 billion, 100% (NFL)

13. New York Jets, $2.75 billion, 6% (NFL)

13. Los Angeles Dodgers, $2.75 billion, 10% (MLB)

15. Bayern Munich, $2.71 billion, 1% (Soccer)

16. Chicago Bears, $2.7 billion, 10% (NFL)

16. Boston Red Sox, $2.7 billion, 17% (MLB)

18. Chicago Cubs, $2.68 billion, 22% (MLB)

19. San Francisco Giants, $2.65 billion, 18% (MLB)

20. Houston Texans, $2.6 billion, 4% (NFL)

Vice President for Marketing and Communication Manel Arroyo’s statements:

“It is satisfying to be the fourth most valuable sports club in the world and the second most valuable football team with the ownership model we have. Barça belongs to its 140,000 members and we compete with the biggest clubs, economic giants. Those in the North-American professional sports leagues, the Permier League clubs who get more money from TV rights, and the new investors and new fortunes that are dominating the football world.”

“For this reason it is a big responsibility to manage a club and a brand like FC Barcelona, which is becoming more and more global. We invest not only in our football team but also in strategic areas that reinforce the different way we do things, like education, knowledge, social commitment and the Foundation. Moreover, we are the club with the highest budgeted income in the world and we have the largest following on our social media outlets with 285 million followers.”