Soccer, Football, Fútbol … whatever you call it, it’s the most popular sport on the planet, with an estimated 3.5 billion people—almost half the global population—classed as fans.
The sport pays its top stars incredible well, too. The average annual salary of a Premier League player is thought to be the equivalent of $4.2 million, while big earners can get upwards of $26.8 million. In La Liga, Kylian Mbappé is believed to be paid $33.5 million in his Real Madrid contract.
Big clubs can only afford to pay that kind of money because they rake it in on a colossal scale themselves, in many cases representing business institutions as much as sporting ones. In 2025, Forbes estimates that 20 soccer clubs worldwide carry a value of at least $1 billion.
But soccer is far from the only big player and, when compared to the likes of the NFL, NBA and Formula 1, it becomes obvious that soccer clubs are part of the crowd, not global leaders.
Forbes calculates a team’s value as its “enterprise value (equity plus net debt) and include the economics of each team’s stadium but not the value of the stadium real estate itself.”
This year, the most valuable sports team in the world is once more the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, estimated to be worth $13 billion—that represents a 29% growth from 2024.
The Golden State Warriors ($11 billion), LA Rams ($10.5 billion), New York Giants ($10.1 billion) and LA Lakers ($10 billion) round out the top five across all sports and are the five teams globally that hit 11-figure territory. The first soccer team to appear is Real Madrid in 20th place—$6.75 billion is still an enormous valuation not to be sniffed at or dismissed.
Despite well publicised issues consistently performing on the pitch and significant debt, Manchester United are =24th on the list. Their $6.6 billion valuation is the same as, ironically, the Glazer-owned Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Next, after many more examples from the traditional ‘Big 4’ U.S. sports—but no NHL, come Barcelona in 42nd place at $5.65 billion. Liverpool, creep inside the top 50, tied at 48 alongside the Detroit Lions and Toronto Raptors, valued at $5.4 billion.
How Soccer’s Giants Rank Among World’s Most Valuable Sports Teams
| Soccer Rank | Club | Value | Overall Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Real Madrid | $6.75 billion | 20th |
| 2nd | Man Utd | $6.6 billion | =24th |
| 3rd | Barcelona | $5.65 billion | 42nd |
| 4th | Liverpool | $5.4 billion | =48th |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Only Four Soccer Clubs Ranked Among 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams in the World.
