Real Madrid, Barcelona top football's rich list

Real Madrid has remained football’s biggest money maker for the eighth straight year as many of Europe’s leading football clubs shrugged off the economic hardship engulfing the continent and boosted their revenue.

The Spanish champions became the first sports team anywhere to break the (euro) 500 million ($666 million) revenue barrier as they stayed ahead of Spanish rival Barcelona in the Football Money League compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte.  

Both teams saw their income rise by 7% during the 2011-12 season with Madrid taking in (euro) 512.6 million ($683 million) and Barcelona (euro) 483 million ($643million).  

While the top six teams remained unchanged, only third-place Manchester United revenue’s dropped, with a fall of 3 percent to 320.3 million pounds ($507 million) after exiting last season’s Champions League at the group stage. -- AP