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Real Madrid and Barcelona neck-and-neck as world’s most valuable football brands in the face of COVID-19
- 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 4th 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 3rd 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 4th 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 8th 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.
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Vegangster Partners with Citron to Power Crypto Payments and Analytics
Vegangster and Citron have partnered to power the crypto payments and analytics layer of Vegangster’s crypto casino solution.
Citron brings deep credibility to the partnership, having processed billions in crypto transactions for 100+ clients across 50+ countries.
Citron Processing, an AI-powered crypto payment solution, lets operators take deposits and pay out winnings on-chain in an instant, with every transaction screened through Chainalysis and incoming funds converted to stablecoins to keep things clean and free of volatility, all at sub-1% fees.
Citron Analytics, the first AI analytics for on-chain client and market intelligence, gives operators full visibility into their players, competitors, and market beyond what any platform data can show.
Powered by Citron AI, it reads live blockchain data to deliver client profiling, real-time alerts when players deposit, win, or start playing elsewhere, graph-based fraud detection, and competitive intelligence, including rival casinos’ volumes and market share, all through a live dashboard and conversational AI interface.
“For the first time, our operators can see how players spend across other casinos, not just their own platform. We are already integrating this information into platform PAM, automation tools, allowing customer support, VIP teams to react in real time to changes and increase retention rates.”
Michael Oziransky
Chief Product Officer at Vegangster
“On-chain data reveals knowledge and opportunities iGaming operators never had before. Citron’s partnership with Vegangster brings one of the most efficient iGaming platforms together with the industry’s powerful crypto intelligence tool – everything operators need for success”.
Artsemi Karpovich
Head of Sales at Citron
Together, the two products give operators using the Vegangster Crypto Casino solution both the payment infrastructure and the intelligence layer to acquire smarter, retain longer, and operate with full visibility into their market.
About Citron
Citron is an AI-powered crypto processing and analytics platform. Citron Analytics, the first AI analytics for on-chain client and market intelligence, reads live blockchain data to help businesses understand client behaviour, detect fraud, analyse competitors, and make real-time data-driven decisions.
Citron Processing delivers an intelligent crypto payment infrastructure with 12+ cryptocurrencies, sub-1% fees, and Chainalysis integration. Citron is dedicated to making blockchain and its data accessible and actionable for every business in the crypto economy.
About Vegangster
Vegangster provides a full iGaming platform built for speed, scale, and operator control. Its turnkey, white-label, and sweepstakes solutions bring casino and sportsbook content, payments, CRM, compliance, and social features together into a single mobile-first system. With Vegangster, operators can launch quickly and grow with confidence.
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Romans Kozlovskis
affiliate marketing
SEOBROTHERS’ Aleksandra Drigo flags higher barriers for affiliates in regulated Alberta
SEOBROTHERS Chief of Business Development Aleksandra Drigo says Alberta’s move toward a regulated online gambling market is likely to raise the cost and complexity of affiliate acquisition, reshaping competition for SEO-led publishers. Drigo shared the view in an exclusive interview with SiGMA News focused on Canada’s affiliate landscape.
Drigo said regulation can bring more transparency, but also higher compliance demands and tougher economics for smaller players. “Many affiliates, especially independent SEO players, may decide not to enter fully regulated markets and instead focus on regions with more predictable economics and lower regulatory pressure,” she said.
She added that regulated markets typically advantage well-funded affiliate groups with the ability to invest in legal and compliance support and tracking infrastructure. “Regulated markets tend to favour larger players. Big affiliate companies have the resources for legal support, compliance teams, advanced tracking infrastructure, and long-term investment without expecting fast ROI.”
On partner selection, Drigo said affiliates are increasingly weighing operators on operational quality and regulatory readiness, not just commercial terms. “We pay close attention to how consistent an operator is in terms of reporting, responsible gaming policies, speed of communication, and local regulations compliance. Reputation risks affect both sides. If an operator lacks transparency or fails to follow compliance standards, it directly impacts the affiliate business as well.”
Drigo also pointed to communication and access to performance data as major friction points in operator-affiliate relationships. “Financial disagreements can usually be resolved quickly if there is trust and clear communication between both sides. Whereas, when affiliates do not receive timely information, face unclear reporting, or get no explanation for performance changes, tensions escalate very quickly. In regulated markets, communication and transparency become just as important as the financial terms themselves.”
Looking ahead, Drigo said affiliates targeting regulated North American markets will need stronger localisation, trusted brands and more diversified traffic strategies as search behaviour changes. “With AI and online search ecosystem changes already transforming the SEO landscape, affiliates need to become much more flexible and technology-driven than before. And compliance-friendly SEO strategies and diversification beyond traditional search traffic are becoming increasingly important.”
The post SEOBROTHERS’ Aleksandra Drigo flags higher barriers for affiliates in regulated Alberta appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Czech Republic
Sparta Prague extends Betano principal partnership through 2029
AC Sparta Praha has extended its principal partnership with Betano through 30 June 2029. Betano, Kaizen Gaming’s online betting and gaming brand, has held principal partner status since 2023 and will continue to feature on the shirts of Sparta’s men’s A-team, B-team and first women’s team.
Tomáš Křivda, CEO of AC Sparta Praha, said: “The three-year partnership with Betano has brought benefits to both sides, and I am very glad that it will continue. Sparta is a brand with weight and reach in Czech sport, and the partnership reflects that. Together we are setting the standard in Czech sport for what such a relationship should look like. It does not stop at a logo on the shirts. Together we have prepared a range of activations for fans, offered them attractive competitions and experiences, and opened up topics beyond the pitch as well, such as stadium accessibility. All with a clear focus on the fan. It works because we are pursuing the same goal. Extending it for another three seasons is therefore a logical step, and I believe we will build well on the work we have started”.
The clubs said the renewal follows joint activations including the “Million Kick” halftime competition, which has awarded two prizes of one million CZK over the first three seasons of the partnership. The companies also pointed to international-facing collaborations involving first-team players and representatives of Aston Villa F.C. and Club de Regatas do Flamengo.
Julio Iglesias Hernando, Chief Commercial Officer at Kaizen Gaming, said: “We are truly delighted to extend our partnership with AC Sparta Praha until 2029. Over the past three years, we have built a profound relationship founded on mutual trust and a shared pursuit of excellence. This renewal reinforces our commitment to Czech sport and its fans, aligning perfectly with our global strategy of partnering with elite sporting institutions that represent the very best the international stage has to offer. At the same time, we remain dedicated to shaping a safe, reliable and responsible gaming environment for everyone”.
Sparta and Betano said upcoming seasons will include an “enhanced Betano Million Kick” and additional fan formats, while the Betano Game prediction contest, draws for places in the Betano Zone, match streams and other benefits will continue. The partners also highlighted ongoing CSR work focused on stadium accessibility and inclusivity at the epet Arena, including audio navigation beacons, expanded wheelchair platforms, stadium tours for fans with visual or hearing impairments and audio-descriptive commentary, as part of Sparta’s stated aim to become “only the second football club in the world to receive the Access Champions certification.”
The post Sparta Prague extends Betano principal partnership through 2029 appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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