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Real Madrid and Barcelona neck-and-neck as world’s most valuable football brands in the face of COVID-19

Published

6 years ago

July 30, 2020

George Miller

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Real Madrid remain world’s most valuable football brand, but Barcelona narrow the gap to just €6 million
COVID-19 causes total brand value of top 50 clubs to decrease for the first time in 6 years – €751 million or 3.7% is knocked off
English clubs dominate the ranking with six brands in top 10 and 19 in top 50
Liverpool inches two spots up into 4^th place, following historic Premier League win
Bundesliga’s 1. FC Köln is this year’s fastest-growing brand, followed by Leicester City and RB Leipzig – all recording over 40% growth
Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium takes top spot in Buro Happold’s Venue Performance Rating

Real Madrid remain the most valuable football club brand in the world for 2020, according to the latest edition of the Brand Finance Football Annual. Boosted by winning the LaLiga title for the first time since 2017, the club retained its position at the top of the table in the football industry, but against a backdrop of economic and social disruption, caused primarily by the COVID-19 pandemic, Real Madrid’s brand value has declined by 14% to €1,419 million.

Real Madrid’s disappointing on-pitch performance prior to 2019-20, which saw an earlier-than-normal exit from the UEFA Champions League in 2018-19 and a second successive season adrift of LaLiga champions Barcelona, eroded the club’s dominance of the Brand Finance ranking. The situation was exacerbated by COVID-19, along with a lack of stability around the management of the team. Barcelona, Real’s fierce rivals, are just €6 million behind Real with a brand value of €1,413 million, supported by strong and diverse revenue generation and continued domestic performance in Spain.

COVID-19 knocks off €751 million of brand value

Real Madrid is not the only club to see a drop in brand value this year. COVID-19 has caused the total value of the top 50 football brands to decrease for the first time in 6 years. Through its effect on the three main revenue streams – Matchday, Broadcasting, and Commercial – €751 million or 3.7% has been knocked off the cumulative brand value of the world’s top 50 most valuable football clubs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged professional football worldwide and across all levels. Matchday income for the 501 games remaining in the big 5 leagues dropped to zero, but it is often the smaller clubs and leagues which are more reliant on this revenue stream – in Scotland it makes up 43% of total revenue, compared to only 13% in England.

There have been some positive signs, as Southampton vs Manchester City on BBC broke the Premier League TV audience record with 5.7 million viewers, but the longer-term damage to the game’s economic structure has yet to be revealed.

Richard Haigh, Managing Director of Brand Finance, commented:

“Top-level football has been confronted with the largest existential threat since the Second World War. Loss of income, coupled with health concerns about mass gatherings, have raised question marks about the future of the industry and the financial resilience of clubs across all levels. The full damage of the COVID-19 crisis has yet to unfold and it is not inconceivable there will be casualties in the form of club bankruptcies and changes in ownership.”

Despite the huge implications of COVID-19 for football clubs and their financial results, the majority of the brand value is secured by the clubs’ long-term future – provided they can survive the initial shock. For example, only 21% of Real Madrid’s brand value is delivered by the next five years’ financial results.

Premier power

Real Madrid and Barcelona are followed by a cluster of English Premier League clubs in the Brand Finance Football Annual 2020 ranking, with Manchester United in 3^rd position after their brand value fell by 11% to €1,314 million. Liverpool, who won their first league title since 1990 in runaway style, are in 4^th spot jumping above Manchester City in terms of brand value, rising from €1,191 million in 2019 to €1,262 million, a 6% increase. Chelsea dropped one place in the table to 8^th after their value fell for the fourth consecutive year to €949 million. This was arguably due to the club being absent from the UEFA Champions League and also suffering a transfer ban after being charged with breaking Financial Fair Play Regulations.

Latest News

Reflex Gaming launches Sidewinder Xtra Power via Yggdrasil Masters

Published

3 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Wladimir P.

reflex-gaming-launches-sidewinder-xtra-power-via-yggdrasil-masters

Sequel adds an Xtra Power bar to the Sidewinder Shuffle feature, with multipliers and Wild upgrades built into the trail mechanic.

Reflex Gaming has launched Sidewinder Xtra Power, a sequel to its Sidewinder title, with distribution through the Yggdrasil Masters Program.

The game uses a 5×3, 20-payline fruit slot format and brings back the Sidewinder Shuffle mechanic. Reflex said the Sidewinder Feature is triggered when five orbs light up above the reels, turning losing spins into winners as the reels shuffle into position.

Reflex said each winning shuffle increases a multiplier trail, with trail targets unlocking Wilds, Super Wilds, Mega Wilds and symbol upgrades. Mystery symbols can also land in the base game, with shutters opening simultaneously across the reels to reveal the same symbol.

The main addition is the Xtra Power Sidewinder feature. Reflex said four orbs in the base game boost a power bar, and once the bar is full, the next triggered shuffle feature opens Xtra Power. During Xtra Power events, each triggering orb reveals a multiplier boost.

Mat Ingram, CPO at Reflex Gaming, said: “With Xtra Power, we wanted to give the Sidewinder experience an extra dimension, and the power bar does exactly that.

“Players now have two things to chase simultaneously, and when the Xtra Power feature fires with the multiplier already boosted from the start, it delivers the kind of moment that is truly the cherry on top.”

The post Reflex Gaming launches Sidewinder Xtra Power via Yggdrasil Masters appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Amusnet

Amusnet Wins “Best Software Provider” Award at the AskGamblers Awards 2026

Published

4 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Wladimir P.

amusnet-wins-“best-software-provider”-award-at-the-askgamblers-awards-2026

Amusnet, a leading international provider of advanced casino solutions, has won the prestigious Best Software Provider title at the 9th edition of AskGamblers Awards 2026. Hosted at the St. Regis Belgrade, the gala ceremony brought together top-tier industry players in the Serbian capital to honour standout achievements. This accolade arrives at a momentous milestone for Amusnet, marking a decade defined by continuous growth, technological evolution and commercial success.

Dejan Vukosavljević, Country Director at Amusnet Serbia, attended the high-profile event as the company’s official representative to accept the accolade.

“This award validates the team’s dedication to our software platform and inspires us to further raise our standards of quality and product excellence. Securing this title is a fantastic achievement and a true honour, especially given our strategic partnership with AskGamblers. As we celebrate Amusnet’s 10th anniversary, our focus remains on global uniqueness, with the ambitious goal of expanding our footprint to more than 100 markets worldwide over the next ten years,” stated Vukosavljević.

As one of the industry’s premier affiliate platforms for casino reviews, boasting a vibrant community of over 1,000,000 active players, AskGamblers has been a key partner for Amusnet since the beginning of the year. Receiving this recognition from such a player-centric platform underscores Amusnet’s strong market resonance and deepening industry ties.

By combining technological innovation with creative excellence, the company is actively shaping the future of digital entertainment. This milestone ensures that Amusnet’s localised, high-performing content continues to captivate and engage audiences on a truly global scale.

The post Amusnet Wins “Best Software Provider” Award at the AskGamblers Awards 2026 appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Artificial intelligence

QCI Launches QCI Resorts, the Unified Intelligence Platform for Resorts

Published

4 hours ago

June 18, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

qci-launches-qci-resorts,-the-unified-intelligence-platform-for-resorts

Quick Custom Intelligence (QCI), a leading provider of gaming and hospitality technology, announced the launch of QCI Resorts, a unified intelligence platform designed specifically for modern resort operations.

For decades, the resort industry has pursued a vision of operational unification through integrations, data warehouses, and interconnected software systems. While these approaches connected information across departments, they also created increasing complexity, duplicated data, delayed decision-making, and limited the ability of organizations to fully leverage artificial intelligence.

Built on the QCI AGI Platform, QCI Resorts delivers a single operational environment where hospitality, food and beverage, point-of-sale, marketing, loyalty, guest engagement, operations, and enterprise intelligence operate from one unified intelligence layer. Rather than moving information between disconnected applications, QCI Resorts enables resort operations to function within a shared real-time platform designed for intelligence-driven decision making.

The launch marks a significant milestone in QCI’s vision for the future of resort technology—one where unified operational intelligence replaces fragmented software stacks and where agentic systems can operate with a complete understanding of the enterprise.

“After more than two decades building data warehouses and integration platforms, generative AI enabled for another approach. Instead of connecting more systems together, we can now deliver most resort operations through a single real-time software stack. Gaming remains integrated where regulations require it, but hospitality, marketing, loyalty, food and beverage, operations, and intelligence can operate from a unified platform. That foundation is what makes true agentic resort operations possible,” said Andrew Cardno, Co-Founder and CTO of QCI.

Unlike traditional resort technology architectures that rely on multiple vendors, extensive integrations, and centralized data warehouses, QCI Resorts operates from a shared data model, shared workflow architecture, and shared intelligence layer. This approach enables real-time operational intelligence across the enterprise while providing the foundation required for AI agents to understand, coordinate, and execute actions across resort operations.

“QCI Resorts is not another integration platform. For decades, the industry has pursued the vision of a unified resort platform. The goal was right, but the technology wasn’t ready. Today, advances in AI and agentic systems make it possible to deliver what operators have always wanted: a single real-time operational system where hospitality, marketing, loyalty, food and beverage, operations, and intelligence work together as one, with gaming integrated where regulations require. QCI Resorts is that system,” said Ralph Thomas, Co-Founder and CEO of QCI.

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the hospitality industry, QCI believes the next generation of resort technology will not be defined by how many systems can be integrated together, but by how effectively intelligence can operate across the entire enterprise.

“Agentic AI achieves its greatest potential when it operates within a complete understanding of the business. The future belongs to systems that can understand the entire resort, not just individual departments. That is the vision behind QCI Resorts,” added Cardno.

QCI Resorts is being introduced as the industry’s first unified intelligence platform purpose-built for gaming and hospitality operations, enabling operators to move beyond fragmented architecture toward a real-time operational intelligence model designed for the era of agentic AI.

The post QCI Launches QCI Resorts, the Unified Intelligence Platform for Resorts appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.