Soccer Makes an Impact in Forbes Fab 40

Forbes has released their annual ‘Fab 40’ list, a ranking of the most valuable sports brands in 2014. They rank the brands in four categories – businesses, events, teams and athletes. According to Forbes, the brands that make the list ‘commands a big monetary premium to its rivals due to a combination of its size and profitability’.

Soccer makes a sizable contribution to each list. In the business brands category, the top six are all brands that are heavily involved in soccer; tow of them as television networks, and four as sportswear providers. Nike is the top brand – its name adds a staggering $19b to its market value. Adidas, Under Armour and Reebok are the other sportswear brands to appear in the list, all companies that can regularly be seen on the football field as shirt sponsors and boot makers. ESPN, second in the list, had coverage of the 2014 World Cup, and Sky Sports is the largest sports network in the UK, screening the Premier League and Champions League, among other competitions.

The second category is event brands, which Forbes calculated on revenue-per-event-day. The FIFA World Cup appears at number four on the list, with a value of $170m, and the UEFA Champions League is 6th, valued at $139m. The Summer Olympics, of which soccer is one of the events, is second with a value of $348m.

Three of the top five team brands are soccer clubs. Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are ranked second and third respectively, with Manchester United at number five. German champions Bayern Munich also make the list in 7th. These four clubs are pre-season globetrotters, playing friendlies in Asia, North America and South America as they continue to bring their brand to a worldwide fan base.

There are two soccer players in the top 10 list for most valuable athlete brand – no prizes for guessing who! Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo appears in 7th with a value of $17m, with Barcelona rival Leo Messi two places lower with a value of $12m.

The full list of the top 10 for each category can be seen below.

Business Brands
nike

1. Nike – $19b
2. ESPN – $16.5b
3. Adidas – $5.8b
4. Sky Sports – $4.5b
5. Under Amour – $4.1b
6. Reebok – $880m
7. YES – $680m
8. NESN – $525m
9. MLBAM – $520m
10. UFC – $440m

Event Brands
WC

1. Super Bowl – $500m
2. Olympics (Summer) – $348m
3. Olympics (Winter) – $285m
4. FIFA World Cup – $170m
5. NCAA Men’s Final Four – $143m
6. UEFA Champions League – $139m
7. MLB World Series – $113m
8. WrestleMania – $105m
9. Daytona 500 – $100m
10. Kentucky Derby – $99m

Team Brands
MAdrid

1. New York Yankess – $521m
2. Real Madrid – $484m
3. Barcelona – $438m
4. Dallas Cowboys – $404m
5. Manchester United – $399m
6. New England Patriots – $351m
7. Bayern Munich – $287m
8. LA Dodgers – $279m
9. Boston Red Sox – $260m
10. LA Lakers – $254m

Athlete Brands
Ronaldo

1. Lebron James – $37m
2. Tiger Woods – $36m
3. Roger Federer – $32m
4. Phil Mickelson – $29m
5. Mahendra Singh Dhoni – $20m
6. Usain Bolt – $19m
7. Cristiano Ronaldo – $17m
8. Kobe Bryant – $15m
9. Leo Messi – $12m
10. Rafael Nadal – $10m

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Jaime Cardenas
jaime.cardenas@acmconnect.com