The sports industry is global, but the structures and economics couldn’t be more different on either side of the Atlantic. As industry leaders and professionals, understanding these nuances is crucial, especially as investment, innovation, and fan engagement accelerate in both regions.
In Europe, the famed "pyramid model" in football offers open competition from local to elite levels, a concept which very few fans would want to abolish. But this meritocracy comes with real and well-known business risk: post-relegation revenues can drop off a cliff, creating brutal financial whiplash for football clubs slipping out of top leagues. For decades, this has created dangerous incentives for clubs to try and 'spend their way out of trouble', all too often resulting in the (near or full) demise of clubs. Contrast that with the US, where leagues operate as closed franchises, using salary caps and robust revenue sharing to maintain fiscal discipline.
And yet, valuations in Europe are surging. In 2024, the aggregate enterprise value of Europe's 32 largest football clubs soared by 51%, a staggering €13.4 billion increase. This is especially notable when you consider size vs. market reach: according to Forbes, the average NFL franchise is now worth $7.1 billion, despite "only" having roughly 400 million global fans. In contrast, European football as a whole claims to have between 3.5 and 4 billion fans, but Real Madrid (according to Forbes, the most valuable club globally) ranks just below the NFL average at $6.75 billion.
This gap in valuations suggests that the US sports model has been extraordinarily successful at monetising its fan base through mechanisms like centralised league marketing, collective bargaining over media rights, tight cost controls (through salary caps in particular), and strong local authority support. On the other hand, the fact that European football, with its massive and passionate fan bases, still trails the NFL in team valuations highlights that there is still vast untapped potential.