When
Allianz bought an 8.3% stake in Bayern Munich two years ago it was an unusual event - insurance companies are better known for paying for a logo on a shirt rather than buying part of the team and German clubs hardly ever sell shares. The
Allianz deal valued the team at £1.25 billion in 2014 - Forbes has just valued the club at £1.87 billion - a tidy little profit in just 2 years.
Bayern Munich isn't the only team increasing in value - lucrative TV deals, competing bidders for team kit sponsorship and the fact that teams are actually starting to turn a profit all add to their value. Chuck in the fact that UEFA has increased the Champions League payout by around 50% and you can see that anyone who invested in a football team a year or two ago might look rather clever right now.
Forbes' figures put the average value of the top 20 teams in the world at £1 billion - a quarter more than just one year ago.
And the most valuable teams? Real Madrid apparently, worth £2.5 billion - in terms of other sports this puts them as the second most valuable team in the world - beaten only by the Dallas Cowboys' £2.77 billion valuation.
| Team |
Value (billion) |
| Dallas Cowboys |
£2.77 |
| Real Madrid |
£2.5 |
| Barcelona |
£2.45 |
| Manchester United |
£2.29 |
| New England Patriots |
£2.21 |
