Since 2013, the CIES Football Observatory has annually been releasing a list of the top 100 valued footballers from Europe’s “Big-5” leagues. It’s a fascinating concept because rather than just saying “Messi is the best, he’s No. 1. Ronaldo is second-best, he’s No.
The values of the biggest clubs in soccer have skyrocketed over the last five years, thanks in large part to revenue growth. A large portion of this revenue comes from the most expensive shirt sponsorship deals in all of sports, and it should come as no surprise that the three clubs with the largest jersey sponsorship deals also constitute the three most valuable soccer teams in the world.
The list is largely dominated by English Premier League sides and the Dubai-based airline Emirates, both obvious signs of the time.
Christian Pulisic, a 20-year-old from Hershey, Pennsylvania, is the 25th most expensive player in the history of soccer.
Really?
As much as we here at The18 love Christian Pulisic, we were a bit blown away by the fee he garnered on his transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea this week. We understand why, but the more you look at it, the more absurd it appears.
When Neymar made his record-breaking transfer from Barcelona to PSG, his former Brazilian club Santos, with which he played from the age of 11, received a windfall of nearly $16 million as a solidarity payment.
They say money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you the existential dread of being a football fan, if these English Premier League cash figures are any indication.
It’s not hard to figure out that the Premier League is the best in the world at generating and spending money. And while it’s also not hard to argue that other leagues or teams are better on the pitch, when it comes to finances, there’s only one king.
What is cloudy, expensive and exciting?
The European transfer window! So stop wallowing in your post-summertime sadness, Lana Del Rey. Instead, get your calculator out, order a screen-protector and a coffee and start following daily transfer stories. Yes, they occur every day throughout January.
Sunderland AFC wrapped up its thirteenth win of the League One season against Bradford City on Wednesday. Currently sitting in third, Sunderland is aiming to gain promotion back into the Championship after being relegated last season.
While most of Texas was focused on national signing day for college football, another sport made big news in Austin, the largest U.S. city without a top-level professional sports team. The city of Austin and Precourt Sports Ventures announced a landmark $225 million Austin FC stadium deal on Wednesday morning.
Jose Mourinho is out of a job. After improving slightly on the work of predecessors David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, the horror of watching Manchester United attempt to play football was still enough to warrant his sacking on Tuesday. This certainly felt inevitable and there are a lot of reasons for the Portuguese’s dismissal, but the Jose Mourinho transfer spending at Manchester United is the easiest way to make sense of it all.
In a case of voters once again getting it all wrong, Lionel Messi finished fifth in the Ballon d’Or voting earlier this week. But Messi won another award this week that might actually be more valuable than a record sixth trophy for being the world’s best player.
On Thursday, The YouTube Ad of the Year Awards (yeah, that’s a thing), honored Messi’s Gatorade commercial “Heart of a Lio” as the best ad of the year.