The soccer club Real Madrid is the world’s highest earning sports team ever, earning more than $592 million US Dollars (USD) in 2010 — more than 30 percent more than the New York Yankees. The income comes just about equally from three sources — broadcasting, match days and commercials.
More facts about high-priced sports:
The next highest-earning sports teams in the world in 2010 were FC Barcelona, followed by Manchester United followed and the New York Yankees.
Though the Yankees are the fourth in revenue, they are the first in spending — the annual average salary for a first-string Yankees player is about $7 million USD.
Real Madrid, the second highest spender in sports, isn’t far behind — the average salary of their first string players is a little over $6 million USD, but they broke sports records by spending $120 million USD in transfer fees to get Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United.