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Once again we have another list released which lets fans know just how much money the world’s top soccer clubs are raking in. This comes courtesy of Deloitte’s sports business group. According to the research, the top 20 franchises across the globe had combined revenues of 6.6 billion euros last year or approximately $7.18 billion U.S. This was an eight per cent increase from the year before. Leading way for the 11th straight year was Spanish La Liga giants Real Madrid. They may have struggled somewhat on the pitch last season without winning any silverware, but they brought in 577 million euros of revenue. Spanish rivals Barcelona came in second with 560.8 million euros and third place went to English Premier League side Manchester United at 519.5 million euros.

This was the first time in history that the three top clubs have all exceeded the 500 million euro plateau. The list is calculated by including revenue streams that soccer clubs have such as broadcasting contracts, ticket sales, merchandise sales, sponsorships, and money earned from various competitions such as the European Champions League and Europa League etc. In general, 41 per cent of the clubs’ revenues were made up from commercial sales with 40 per cent coming from broadcast rights and the other 19 per cent being made up of match-day tickets and stadium sales.

Fourth place went to Paris Saint-Germain of the French Ligue 1 as they earned 480.8 million euros with fourth place being occupied by Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga with 474 million euros. All of the top-20 earning clubs come from either Spain, England, Germany, France or Italy and it’s been this way for four out of the last seven years. English Premier League clubs took nine of the top 20 spots and they combined to earn 2.98 billion euros. English teams also occupied 17 of the top 30 positions in the money-earning league.

Two of the main reasons for the success of the English teams are the league’s distributions rights for their broadcasting contract and the strength of the English compared to the euro. The Premier League more or less distributes its broadcasting deals on an equal basis to all 20 of the league’s teams. In addition, the new multi-billion pound contract kicks in next season and the revenue in England will increase steadily over the next few seasons. This could lead to the top-30 money earners being dominated by Premier League in the not-too-distant future.

Rounding out the rest of the list: 6th place-Manchester City of England at €463.5 million, 7th-Arsenal of England at €435.5 million, 8th-Chelsea of England at €420 million,9th-Liverpool of England at €391.8 million, 10th-Juventus of Italy at €323.9 million, 11th-Borussia Dortmund of Germany at €280.6 million, 12th-Tottenham Hotspur of England at €257.5 million, 13th-Schalke of Germany at €219.7 million, 14th-AC Milan of Italy at €199.1 million, 15th-Atletico Madrid of Spain at €187.1 million, 16th-AS Roma of Italy at €180.4 million, 17th-Newcastle United of England at €169.3 million, 18th-Everton of England at €165.1 million, 19th-Inter Milan of Italy at €164.8 million and in 20th place was West Ham United of England at €160.9 million.