Manchester United finished the season trophyless for the second time in a row but managed to pull off a double as they leapfrogged Bayern Munich and European champions Barcelona to become the most valuable brand in football and in doing so, became the first football brand to actually be worth a billion dollars.
Manchester fell to third in the Brand Finance’s Football 50 Brand Value ranking following a horrible season under David Moyes but Manchester United have returned to the summit of the rankings following a staggering 64 percent brand value growth that saw the Manchester United brand being valued at 1.2 billion dollars. Manchester United’s purchase of Di Maria and loaning of Falcao as well as the premier leagues 6.9 billion euro TV rights deal all came together to increase Manchester United’s brand value alongside some good off field business with Adidas, Chevrolet and STC.
Bayern Munich finished in second place, with their brand valued at 933 million dollars while the Real Madrid brand is valued at 873 million euros. Real Madrid’s position is surprising considering the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo, Bale and James all represent the Spanish giants but it is not as surprising as Barcelona who are in fourth place despite boasting a squad with the lieks of Messi, Neymar, Suarez and Iniesta
