If Manchester United is the most valuable football (soccer) club in the world, which is the most valuable sports club?

I reckon the value of man U is down to the fact that they have had such a long period of consistent management leading to huge success. They don't go in for knee jerk reactions.They bring on their own young players which is great to see and these players have a sense of security which is unrivalled in any other club. Even the likes of the great Chelsea isn't happy with its manager in spite of the success he has brought this season, and Drogba will go too. So, they will have to start all over again while Man U have a running start. dragon

This is an interesting one, as a fan of North American sports it's interesting to look at value in relation success. The Maple Leafs may be the most valuable NHL team, thier value isn't matched by thier on-ice success in recent years. This year they had a disasterous season managing 24th out of 30 teams! But yet somehow they seem to retain their popularity and value!! As far as I know, the Knicks haven't made the playoffs this year either and the Reskins have also suffered in the last few years with a loss of form and have only made the Superbowl 5 times winning 3 and losing 2....however, the Yankees do deserve their standing as the most valuable MLB team as they have won the World Series a record 26 times!! Maybe the real value is to be found in the Sales, Branding and Marketing staff rather than in the performances on the field/ice/court.

Not sure if i would use the word great in relation to chelsea as a club,they are manufactured by a russion billionairre with manufactured support(free flags to fans to generate an atmosphere at a champs lg semi final!)...United to be fair have it right on and off the pitch and will continue to do so with this kind of revenue and management on and off the pitch..to coin an american phrase their brand is everywhere,in every country build on history and a loyal foundation,they even have the rights to a soccer school in the new sport city being developed in the far east!

I think the big American sports teams have had strong brand for a long time, but their sports are not really global. Manchester United have been catching up, and may still have something to go in terms of the strength of their brand - but the Yankees and such like are going to struggle to compete on coverage.

An interesting one is Glasgow Celtic. They have massive potential in terms of coverage, because of the number of Irish/Scots living abroad and, of course, the Catholic connection. But that, I guess is a double-edged sword, because the club cannot be seen to be promoting that aspect of its identity too strongly as it fights sectarianism at home. Their home league is also weak in terms of creating TV revenue, which affects their ability to raise their profile through success on the pitch in European competition.

Rob Robson
Chartered Sport & Exercise Psychologist

The key here I feel is the amount of money going into the sport. Soccer (football) has overtaken the earning power previously enjoyed by American clubs because of the global appeal of the game, the boom in Asian economies and the globalisation of the sport as a whole. It would be interesting to make a comparison of the sports as a whole and then the worth of the top clubs vis-a-vis that comparison. Even more interesting, I feel, is the value-added of the top coaches / managers. One of our articles here ( http://talent-talk.com/?p=4 ) explores this. Dragon mentioned the case of Chelsea vs. Manchester United. Even on a back of an envelope you can calculate that there has been a net erosion of capital at Chelsea since Abramovich took over. In its pursuit of glory, the club overpaid for a lot of its players. Man Utd, Arsenal, Everton, Portsmouth, Blackburn and Aston Villa, by contrast, have had managers and regimes that have added value. I'm not an accountant, but a formula for value-added for managers could be: Squad value at present + net transfer income + income from success on the pitch - (Squad value at start + investment in players) Slightly off topic, but of there is an accountant out there it would be interesting to hear of your take on the matter!

Thanks and welcome to the community! An interesting perspective (and first post). You are right, of course, that simply splashing a billionaire's money can only end in an erosion of value. Abramovic has supposedly said that he wants the club to become self-funding but the temptation will always be there for him to throw money at the quest for success.

Here's a link to your article: http://talent-talk.com/?p=4. (You can use html in comments).

Rob Robson
Chartered Sport & Exercise Psychologist