Looking for an equalizer, Atlético starts to attack harder than they have throughout the game. Their aggressiveness leaves them vulnerable to counterattacks. GOAL! In the 118th minute, the big-haired Brazilian Marcelo takes advantage, driving a low shot right through the left arm of the plunging Atlético goalkeeper. Imagine Andrés Cantor, the Argentine-born Spanish-language sportscaster, yelling his familiar, “Goooooooooal,” with the “o” stretched out over fifteen seconds—and then repeating it.
To make matters worse for Atlético, two minutes later, a tired Atlético player accidentally trips Ronaldo in the penalty box, and Ronaldo is awarded a penalty kick. GOAL! With a right-footed shot, Ronaldo puts the penalty into the back of the right corner of the net with precision and power. Ray Hudson describes the moment: “. . . absolute precision from the Dark Invader . . . this one is a death-ray hit from Real Madrid’s glamour boy . . .” It is Ronaldo’s seventeenth goal of the tournament, a record at the time.
8 There is debate in the media about whether Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale holds the world record for the highest transfer fee ever paid for a player, both by Real Madrid. Ronaldo joined the team in 2009 for what was reported at the time to be a €94 million ($131 million) transfer fee, while Bale’s fee was originally reported to be €91.5 million in 2013. However, because Bale’s fee was to be paid in installments, the total resulted in around €100 million. Spanish newspaper Marca reported that Ronaldo’s contract also had installments and the total amount was actually €104.7 million, which would make Ronaldo the world’s most expensive player.
9 The first team is the main, upper level team that plays in the first (top) division and major competitions.
10 Rob Hughes, “The Never-Ending Job at Real Madrid.” New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/sports/soccer/the-never-ending-job-at-real-madrid.html?_r=0.
11 Ramos was referencing the beloved Pitina Sandoval, Florentino’s wife of forty-one years and mother of their three children, who died in May 2012.
12 Michael Owen, “Champions League final 2014: Real Madrid ruled by Europe so they dare not lose to Atletico Madrid.” Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/michael-owen/10852545/Champions-League-final-2014-Real-Madrid-ruled-by-Europe-so-they-dare-not-lose-to-Atletico-Madrid.html.
How Real Madrid Became the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet
REAL MADRID’S ON- AND OFF-FIELD DOMINANCE
AT THE CENTER of the Real Madrid way for success are the values of their community and resulting culture. Real Madrid management believes the culture has translated into continued success on the field thus creating a profitable and sustainable enterprise that people can identify with and turn to, embracing it as a meaningful and steadfast cornerstone of their own personal value and identity. Before examining the Real Madrid way, it is worth understanding its results, beyond its record 107 official competition trophies in its 114 year history.
When I ask US sports fans, “What is the most valuable sports team in the world?” the most common answers are “the New York Yankees” or “the Dallas Cowboys.” When I tell them the answer is Real Madrid, most people are completely shocked. American-centric sports fans will be absolutely astonished by the data below.
Real Madrid is worth $3.44 billion according to Forbes’ World’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams in July 2015.13 They rank it the most valuable sports team, which surprises many Americans, but if one thinks about it, soccer is the most popular sport in the entire world. Soccer has 3.5 billion fans globally, while baseball, basketball, and American football’s fans combined do not equal the number of soccer enthusiasts.14 The 2012 Deloitte Football Money League reported that in 2010–11, European professional soccer teams generated a combined €17.5 billion ($23.7 billion) in revenues. In an article about ranking sports’ popularity in September 2011, the Economist reported that “This compares with the NFL’s $9 billion, MLB’s $7.2 billion, and the NBA’s $4.1 billion in 2011.”15
Regardless of the rankings of Forbes and others, recent sports industry transactions may suggest that Real Madrid is actually the most valuable team. MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers was acquired for $2 billion, more than eight times its revenues in 2012. NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers was acquired for $2 billion, fifteen times revenues in 2014 (Forbes valued the team at $430 million the previous year). Real Madrid has larger revenues and profits than either team, a more differentiated global brand, and a larger global fan base in the world’s most popular sport. Real Madrid would also have a much wider potential buyer universe than an American sports team.16 Just using the Dodgers’ eight times revenues transaction multiple, Real Madrid would be worth over $5.7 billion. Of course, the value of the team in a sale transaction is very theoretical because Real Madrid is a not-for-profit organization with approximately 92,000 club members that “own” the club (this will be discussed in detail later).
The chart below from Forbes values Real Madrid at five times revenues (the same multiple of revenues as the sale of NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks in 2014, which really does not compare to Real Madrid).
Table 1.1: Ten Most Valuable Sports Teams 2015 by Forbes
Real Madrid has the most revenues, $675 million in 2014, of any sports team in the world according to Forbes.17 Great sports teams in major markets like the MLB’s Dodgers and NFL’s New York Giants don’t even make the top ten. NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers 2014 revenues were $293 million, less than half of Real Madrid’s. Real Madrid has been at the top of the Deloitte Football Money League for eleven straight years, including the 2014–15 season.
Table 1.2: Ten Highest Sports Teams Revenues 2014 by Forbes
The power of the Real Madrid brand goes well beyond soccer, Madrid, or Spain. Experts estimate that Real Madrid has approximately 450 million fans around the world—more than American football has in total. Perhaps the best evidence of the power of the brand and identity lies in the club’s social media following. In 2015, Real Madrid had a total of 200 million followers across all global social media platforms, including those in China. A truly global presence, Real Madrid had approximately 100 million Facebook fans and Twitter followers on