Soccer is an extremely popular team sport in several countries, especially those in Europe. Several professional leagues including the English Premier League, Serie A and the Spanish Primera feature some of the most talented players in the world. Additionally, the United States features Major League Soccer as its elite professional soccer league. As popular as these leagues are, major international tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup are lauded as major worldwide sporting events.
Franchise Values and Popularity
In 2010, Forbes Magazine's website determined that the 20 most valuable professional soccer clubs are worth an average of $632 million. Manchester United, a storied franchise in the English Premier League, is the most valuable team in the world with an astronomical worth of $1.84 billion. Not even the historic New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, worth $1.3 billion, are worth as much. The Forbes website said "Man U" has 333 million fans around the world with over 120 million core fans. Arsenal, another major English Premier League franchise, also earns great money including $165 million in 2010 from gate and concessions, second only to Manchester United.
UEFA European Football Championship
The United European Football Association, known as UEFA, holds the European Football Championship every four years. The best European international clubs including Spain, England, France, Italy and Germany are pitted against one another to determine a champion. The 2012 tournament will feature 53 international European teams. The first UEFA European Championship began in 1958 and ended in 1960 with the USSR. crowned as champions. Spain, with a 1-0 victory over Germany, won the most recent European Championship, played in 2008. It was Spain's second title. They won their first in 1964.
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is often referred to as the world's largest sporting event, according to Bryan App at the TimesDaily website. The tournament has been played every four years since 1930, played two years before and after the UEFA European Championship. The Winter and Summer Olympics alternate in the same fashion. Thirty-two countries from six continents participated in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Spain won the tournament with a victory over the Netherlands in the championship match. They are only the second country in World Cup history to win while holding the UEFA European title. The other was West Germany in 1974. Brazil has won the most World Cup titles of any country, winning five including three out of four World Cups between 1958 and 1970.
Player Salaries
Professional soccer player salaries can be quite high. The five highest-paid players in the world earn an average of $14.7 million per season. In comparison, the top five highest-paid NFL players earn $20.3 million on average per season. Former Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was purchased by Real Madrid, an elite Spanish football team, in 2009 for $132 million. He is the most expensive player in the history of professional soccer. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a Swedish player, earns the second highest salary with $15.7 million per year for Barcelona. He was the highest paid player in the world before Ronaldo's acquisition by Real Madrid.
References
- Forbes.com; The Business of Soccer; Peter J. Schwartz, Paul Maidment, Michael K. Ozanian; April 21 2010
- Forbes.com: #1 New York Yankees
- UEFA.com: UEFA European Football Championship Origins
- UEFA.com: UEFA Euro 2010 Teams
- BBC Sport: Germany 0-1 Spain; Phil McNulty; June 29 2008
- TimesDaily.com; The World's Biggest Sporting Event?; Bryan App; June 11 2010
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