Leagues are good now, but there should be more respect for the FIFA Club World Cup, it is the only league to create a real world champion.
Of course the 'Série A' is behind the Spaniard, french, german, italian and english leagues. However this picture will change. Brazil is growing really fast. The 2014 World Cup is bringing new infrastructure like new stadiums and the old ones are being refurbished. New subway stations and a lot of new stuff. Next year, the 'Globo Broadcast System' will pay almost R$1 billion/year (today is around R$ 400 million/year) to broadcast the 'Série A'. That's a lot of money. I'm pretty sure that in 2014-16 the 'Série A' will be the best Football Championship in the World. Even why what sustain the European Football is the Euro currency and the Euro is almost broken. See the Greece, Ireland and Italy. It would be no surprise the european countries to return to their old currencies. There are some really good players here that are totally unkown in Europe like Borges (Santos), Dagoberto (São Paulo), Rhodolfo (São Paulo), Kleber (Palmeiras), ... and others that could easily play in all those 'first class' european leagues. Well... let's see what happens for the next 3 or 4 years in the world of football. The things is changing. Pay attention folks.
The best leagues/clubs are the richest, here the rich-list: Sports clubs with an annual revenue of at least €20 million 1. Real Madrid CF - Association football - Spain - €450 million 2. FC Barcelona - Association football - Spain - €420 million 3. New York Yankees - Baseball - United States - €416 million 4. FC Bayern Munich - Association football - Germany - €323 million 5. Manchester United FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €322 million 6. Dallas Cowboys - American football - United States - €294 million 7. Arsenal FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €252 million 8. Washington Redskins - American football - United States - €247 million 9. Chelsea FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €235 million 10. New York Mets - Baseball - United States - €233 million 11. Boston Red Sox - Baseball - United States - €231 million 12. AC Milan - Association football - Italy - €227 million 13. FC Internazionale Milano - Association football - Italy - €224 million 14. New England Patriots - American football - United States - €222 million 15. Yomiuri Giants - Baseball - Japan - €214 million 16. Liverpool FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €207 million 17. Juventus FC - Association football - Italy - €205 million 18. Los Angeles Dodgers - Baseball - United States - €205 million 19. Chicago Cubs - Baseball - United States - €204 million 20. Houston Texans - American football - United States - €190 million 21. Philadelphia Phillies - Baseball - United States - €187 million 22. LA Angels of Anaheim - Baseball - United States - €186 million 23. Philadelphia Eagles - American football - United States - €182 million 24. Baltimore Ravens - American football - United States - €178 million 25. Chicago Bears - American football - United States - €178 million 26. Denver Broncos - American football - United States - €175 million 27. Carolina Panthers - American football - United States - €173 million 28. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks - Baseball - Japan - €173 million 29. Hanshin Tigers - Baseball - Japan - €173 million 30. Indianapolis Colts - American football - United States - €173 million 31. Miami Dolphins - American football - United States - €173 million 32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - American football - United States - €172 million 33. New Orleans Saints - American football - United States - €171 million 34. Pittsburgh Steelers - American football - United States - €170 million 35. Cleveland Browns - American football - United States - €169 million 36. FC Schalke 04 - Association football - Germany - €169 million 37. Green Bay Packers - American football - United States - €169 million 38. Tennessee Titans - American football - United States - €169 million 39. New York Giants - American football - United States - €168 million 40. Seattle Seahawks - American football - United States - €168 million 41. New York Jets - American football - United States - €166 million 42. Arizona Cardinals - American football - United States - €165 million 43. Kansas City Chiefs - American football - United States - €164 million 44. San Diego Chargers - American football - United States - €163 million 45. Cincinnati Bengals - American football - United States - €162 million 46. Atlanta Falcons - American football - United States - €161 million 47. Buffalo Bills - American football - United States - €159 million 48. New York Knicks - Basketball - United States - €158 million 49. San Francisco 49ers - American football - United States - €158 million 50. St. Louis Rams - American football - United States - €156 million 51. Jacksonville Jaguars - American football - United States - €154 million 52. Minnesota Vikings - American football - United States - €154 million 53. Oakland Raiders - American football - United States - €152 million 54. Los Angeles Lakers - Basketball - United States - €150 million 55. Minnesota Twins - Baseball - United States - €149 million 56. Detroit Lions - American football - United States - €147 million 57. Hamburger SV - Association football - Germany - €146 million 58. Olympique Lyonnais - Association football - France - €146 million 59. San Francisco Giants - Baseball - United States - €144 million 60. Olympique de Marseille - Association football - France - €142 million 61. Manchester City FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €140 million 62. St. Louis Cardinals - Baseball - United States - €136 million 63. Chicago White Sox - Baseball - United States - €135 million 64. Tottenham Hotspur FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €134 million 65. Seattle Mariners - Baseball - United States - €131 million 66. Toronto Maple Leafs - Ice Hockey - Canada - €131 million 67. Houston Astros - Baseball - United States - €128 million 68. Atlanta Braves - Baseball - United States - €127 million 69. Detroit Tigers - Baseball - United States - €127 million 70. Atlético Madrid - Association football - Spain - €124 million 71. AS Roma - Football - Italy - €122 million 72. Washington Nationals - Baseball - United States - €122 million 73. Colorado Rockies - Baseball - United States - €120 million 74. Chicago Bulls - Basketball - United States - €118 million 75. Texas Rangers - Baseball - United States - €117 million 76. Fenerbahçe SK - Association football - Turkey - €116 million 77. FC Girondins de Bordeaux - Association football - France - €115 million 78. Montreal Canadiens - Ice Hockey - Canada - €114 million 79. VfB Stuttgart - Association football - Germany - €114 million 80. Cleveland Cavaliers - Basketball - United States - €112 million 81. Houston Rockets - Basketball - United States - €107 million 82. New York Rangers - Ice Hockey - United States - €107 million 83. Arizona Diamondbacks - Baseball - United States - €106 million 84. Baltimore Orioles - Baseball - United States - €105 million 85. Borussia Dortmund - Association football - Germany - €105 million 86. Boston Celtics - Basketball - United States - €105 million 87. Milwaukee Brewers - Baseball - United States - €105 million 88. Cleveland Indians - Baseball - United States - €104 million 89. Detroit Pistons - Basketball - United States - €103 million 90. Phoenix Suns - Basketball - United States - €103 million 91. Dallas Mavericks - Basketball - United States - €102 million 92. Hiroshima Toyo Carp - Baseball - Japan - €101 million 93. Valencia CF - Association football - Spain - €101 million 94. Aston Villa FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €100 million 95. VfL Wolfsburg - Association football - Germany - €100 million 96. Cincinnati Reds - Baseball - United States - €99 million 97. Sevilla FC - Association football - Spain - €99 million 98. SL Benfica - Association football - Portugal - €98 million 99. SV Werder Bremen - Association football - Germany - €96 million 100. Toronto Raptors - Basketball - Canada - €96 million 101. ACF Fiorentina - Association football - Italy - €95 million 102. Chunichi Dragons - Baseball - Japan - €95 million 103. SC Corinthians Paulista - Association football - Brazil - €95 million 104. Toronto Blue Jays - Baseball - Canada - €95 million 105. San Antonio Spurs - Basketball - United States - €94 million 106. Chiba Lotte Marines - Baseball - Japan - €92 million 107. SSC Napoli - Association football - Italy - €92 million 108. Everton FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €89 million 109. FC Zenit Saint Petersburg - Association football - Russia - €89 million 110. Portland Trail Blazers - Basketball - United States - €89 million 111. SC Internacional - Association football - Brazil - €89 million 112. San Diego Padres - Baseball - United States - €87 million 113. São Paulo FC - Association football - Brazil - €87 million 114. Fulham FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €86 million 115. Miami Heat - Basketball - United States - €86 million 116. Tampa Bay Rays - Baseball - United States - €86 million 117. Chicago Blackhawks - Ice Hockey - United States - €84 million 118. Kansas City Royals - Baseball - United States - €84 million 119. Oakland Athletics - Baseball - United States - €84 million 120. Philadelphia Flyers - Ice Hockey - United States - €84 million 121. Utah Jazz - Basketball - United States - €84 million 122. Detroit Red Wings - Ice Hockey - United States - €83 million 123. Golden State Warriors - Basketball - United States - €83 million 124. Vancouver Canucks - Ice Hockey - Canada - €83 million 125. Oklahoma City Thunder - Basketball - United States - €82 million 126. Paris Saint-Germain FC - Association football - France - €82 million 127. SS Lazio - Association football - Italy - €82 million 128. West Ham United FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €80 million 129. Denver Nuggets - Basketball - United States - €79 million 130. Hertha BSC - Football - Germany - €79 million 131. Boston Bruins - Ice Hockey - United States - €77 million 132. Philadelphia 76ers - Basketball - United States - €77 million 133. Bayer 04 Leverkusen - Association football - Germany - €75 million 134. Orlando Magic - Basketball - United States - €75 million 135. Washington Wizards - Basketball - United States - €75 million 136. Atlanta Hawks - Basketball - United States - € 73 million 137. Sunderland AFC - Association football - United Kingdom - €73 million 138. 1. FC Köln - Association football - Germany - €72 million 139. New Jersey Devils - Ice Hockey - United States - €72 million 140. Pittsburgh Pirates - Baseball - United States - €72 million 141. Sacramento Kings - Basketball - United States - €72 million 142. Borussia Mönchengladbach - Association football - Germany - €71 million 143. Los Angeles Clippers - Basketball - United States - €71 million 144. Florida Marlins - Baseball - United States - €70 million 145. New Orleans Hornets - Basketball - United States - €70 million 146. AFC Ajax - Association football - Netherlands €69 million 147. Celtic FC - Association football - United Kingdom - United States - €69 million 148. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters - Baseball - Japan - €69 million 149. Calgary Flames - Ice Hockey - Canada - €68 million 150. Charlotte Bobcats - Basketball - United States - €68 million 151. Eintracht Frankfurt - Association football - Germany - €68 million 152. FC Porto - Association football - Portugal - €68 million 153. Los Angeles Kings - Ice Hockey - United States - €68 million 154. US Città di Palermo - Association football - Italy - €68 million 155. Wolverhampton Wanderers FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €68 million 156. Ottawa Senators - Ice Hockey - Canada - €67 million 157. Portsmouth FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €67 million 158. Dallas Stars - Ice Hockey - United States - €66 million 159. Indiana Pacers - Basketball - United States - € 66million 160. Minnesota Timberwolves - Basketball - United States - € 66million 161. SE Palmeiras - Association football - Brazil - € 66million 162. Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles - Baseball - Japan - €66 million 163. Blackburn Rovers FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €65 million 164. Texas Longhorns football - American football - United States - €65 million 165. Memphis Grizzlies - Basketball - United States - €64 million 166. Milwaukee Bucks - Basketball - United States - €64 million 167. Minnesota Wild - Ice Hockey - United States - €64 million 168. Birmingham City FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €63 million 169. Pittsburgh Penguins - Ice Hockey - United States - €63 million 170. Rangers FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €63 million 171. San Jose Sharks - Ice Hockey - United States - €61 million 172. Bolton Wanderers FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €60 million 173. Edmonton Oilers - Ice Hockey - Canada - €60 million 174. Stoke City FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €60 million 175. Anaheim Ducks - Ice Hockey - United States - €59 million 176. Newcastle United FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €59 million 177. Trabzonspor - Association football - Turkey - €58 million 178. Villarreal CF - Association football - Spain - €58 million 179. Colorado Avalanche - Ice Hockey - United States - €57 million 180. CR Flamengo - Association football - Brazil - €57 million 181. Genoa CFC - Association football - Italy - €57 million 182. Washington Capitals - Ice Hockey - United States - €57 million 183. Blackpool FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €56 million 184. Buffalo Sabres - Ice Hockey - United States - €56 million 185. Collingwood FC - Australian rules football - Australia - €56 million 186. Athletic Bilbao - Association football - Spain - €55 million 187. Lille OSC - Association football - France - €55 million 188. New Jersey Nets - Basketball - United States - €55 million 189. St. Louis Blues - Ice Hockey - United States - €55 million 190. Urawa Red Diamonds - Association football - Japan - €55 million 191. Wigan Athletic FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €55 million 192. Guangzhou Evergrande FC - Association football - PR China - €54 million 193. Columbus Blue Jackets - Ice Hockey - United States - €53 million 194. Florida Panthers - Ice Hockey - United States - €53 million 195. Tampa Bay Lightning - Ice Hockey - United States - €53 million 196. Carolina Hurricanes - Ice Hockey - United States - €52 million 197. FC Red Bull Salzburg - Association football - Austria - €52 million 198. Hull City AFC - Association football - United Kingdom - €52 million 199. Santos FC - Association football - Brazil - €52 million 200. Tokyo Yakult Swallows - Baseball - Japan - €52 million 201. West Bromwich Albion FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €52 million 202. Yokohama BayStars - Baseball - Japan - €52 million 203. Burnley FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €51 million 204. Nashville Predators - Ice Hockey - United States - €51 million 205. PSV Eindhoven - Association football - Netherlands - €51 million 206. RC Lens - Association football - France - €51 million 207. Alabama Crimson Tide football - American football - United States - €50 million 208. Grêmio FBPA - Association football - Brazil - €50 million 209. Hannover 96 - Association football - Germany - €50 million 210. FC Spartak Moscow - Association football - Russia - €49 million 211. Georgia Bulldogs football - American football - United States - €49 million 212. Penn State Nittany Lions football - American football - United States - €49 million 213. RCD Espanyol - Association football - Spain - €49 million 214. Winnepeg Jets - Ice Hockey - Canada - €49 million 215. AS Monaco FC - Association football - France - €48 million 216. FC Basel - Association football - Switzerland - €48 million 217. Florida Gators football - American football - United States - €48 million 218. Galatasaray SK - Association football - Turkey - €48 million 219. LSU Tigers football - American football - United States - €48 million 220. 1. FC Nuremberg - Association football - Germany - €47 million 221. Middlesbrough FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €47 million 222. Saitama Seibu Lions - Baseball - Japan - €47 million 223. Auburn Tigers football - American football - United States - €46 million 224. AZ - Association football - Netherlands - €46 million 225. Besiktas JK - Association football - Turkey - €46 million 226. Phoenix Coyotes - Ice Hockey - United States - €46 million 227. Cruzeiro EC - Association football - Brazil - €45 million 228. FC Copenhagen - Association football - Denmark - €45 million 229. FC Dynamo Moscow - Association football - Russia - €45 million 230. FC Twente - Association football - Netherlands - €45 million 231. PFC CSKA Moscow - Association football - Russia - €45 million 232. AS Saint-Étienne - Association football - France - €44 million 233. Michigan Wolverines football - American football - United States - €44 million 234. New York Islanders - Ice Hockey - United States - €44 million 235. Ohio State Buckeyes football - American football - United States - €44 million 236. Olympiacos FC - Association football - Greece - €44 million 237. Stade Rennais FC - Association football - France - €44 million 238. Standard Liège - Association football - Belgium - €44 million 239. UC Sampdoria - Association football - Italy - €44 million 243. AC Siena - Association football - Italy - €43 million 240. Feyenoord - Association football - Netherlands - €43 million 241. Orix Buffaloes - Baseball - Japan - €43 million 242. Parma FC - Association football - Italy - €43 million 243. Cagliari Calcio - Association football - Italy - €42 million 244. CD Guadalajara - Association football - Mexico - €42 million 245. Salavat Yulaev Ufa - Ice Hockey - Russia - €42 million 246. Udinese Calcio - Association football - Italy - €42 million 247. Clube Atlético Mineiro - Association football - Brazil - €41 million 248. FC Lokomotiv Moscow - Association football - Russia - €41 million 249. Notre Dame Fighting Irish football - American football - United States - €41 million 250. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - Association football - Germany - €41 million 251. HC Ak Bars Kazan - Ice Hockey - Russia - €40 million 252. Oklahoma Sooners football - American football - United States - €40 million 253. South Carolina Gamecocks football - American football - United States - €40 million 254. Torino FC - Association football - Italy - €40 million 255. AJ Auxerre - Association football - France - €39 million 256. Bologna FC 1909 - Association football - Italy - €39 million 257. Calcio Catania - Association football - Italy - €39 million 258. Nagoya Grampus - Association football - Japan - €39 million 259. Tennessee Volunteers football - American football - United States - €39 million 260. Toulouse FC - Association football - France - €39 million 261. Kashima Antlers - Association football - Japan - €38 million 262. VfL Bochum - Association football - Germany - €38 million 263. CR Vasco da Gama - Association football - Brazil €37 million 264. Reading FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €37 million 265. US Lecce - Association football - Italy - €37 million 266. West Coast Eagles - Australian rules football - Australia - €37 million 267. Le Mans FC - Association football - France - €36 million 268. AC ChievoVerona - Association football - Italy - €35 million 269. Atalanta BC - Association football - Italy - €35 million 270. Deportivo de La Coruña - Association football - Spain - €35 million 271. Derby County FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €35 million 272. Gamba Osaka - Association football - Japan - €35 million 273. Nebraska Cornhuskers football - American football - United States - €35 million 274. Real Betis - Association football - Spain - €35 million 275. Real Sociedad - Association football - Spain - €35 million 276. RSC Anderlecht - Association football - Belgium - €35 million 277. SKA Saint Petersburg - Ice Hockey - Russia - €35 million 278. Arkansas Razorbacks football - American football - United States - €34 million 279. Fluminense FC - Association football - Brazil - €34 million 280. Odense BK - Association football - Denmark - €34 million 281. Real Zaragoza - Association football - Spain - €34 million 282. SK Rapid Wien - Association football - Austria - €34 million 283. Sporting Clube de Portugal - Association football - Portugal €34 million 284. Boca Juniors - Association football - Argentina - €33 million 285. Essendon FC - Australian rules football - Australia - €33 million 286. Geelong FC - Australian rules football - Australia - €33 million 287. 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Association football - Germany - €32 million 288. Arminia Bielefeld - Association football - Germany - €32 million 289. FC Tokyo - Association football - Japan - €32 million 290. Iowa Hawkeyes football - American football - United States - €32 million 291. Metallurg Magnitogorsk - Ice Hockey - Russia - €32 million 292. Olympiacos BC - Basketball - Greece - €32 million 293. Reggina Calcio - Association football - Italy - €32 million 294. Avangard Omsk - Ice Hockey - Russia - €31 million 295. BSC Young Boys - Association football - Switzerland - €31 million 296. Club América - Association football - Mexico - €31 million 297. FC Lorient - Association football - France - €31 million 298. Kawasaki Frontale - Association football - Japan - €31 million 299. Michigan State Spartans football - American football - United States - €31 million 300. ACR Messina - Association football - Italy - €30 million 301. AS Nancy - Association football - France - €30 million 302. Clube Atlético Paranaense - Association football - Brazil - €30 million 303. FC Augsburg - Association football - Germany - €30 million 304. FC Barcelona Bàsquet - Basketball - Spain - €30 million 305. FC Rubin Kazan - Association football - Russia - €30 million 306. FC Sochaux-Montbéliard - Association football - France - €30 million 307. Hawthorn FC - Australian rules football - Australia - €30 million 308. Karlsruher SC - Association football - Germany - €30 million 309. Leeds United AFC - Association football - United Kingdom - €30 million 310. Omiya Ardija - Association football - Japan - €30 million 311. Panathinaikos BC - Basketball - Greece - €30 million 312. SC Freiburg - Association football - Germany - €30 million 313. SC Heerenveen - Association football - Netherlands - €30 million 314. Shimizu S-Pulse - Association football - Japan - €30 million 315. Southern Redbacks - Cricket - Australia - €30 million 316. Yokohama F. Marinos - Association football - Japan - €30 million 317. Chennai Super Kings - Cricket - India - €29 million 318. FC Saturn Moscow Oblast - Association football - Russia - €29 million 319. Júbilo Iwata - Association football - Japan - €29 million 320. Rajasthan Royals - Cricket - India - €29 million 321. Seattle Sounders FC - Association football - United States - €29 million 322. Stade Toulousain - Rugby union - France - €29 million 323. Texas A&M Aggies football - American football - United States - €29 million 324. Al-Ahli - Association football - Saudi Arabia - €28 million 325. Al-Ahly SC - Association football - Egypt - €28 million 326. Al-Ain FC - Association football - United Arab Emirates - €28 million 327. Brescia Calcio - Association football - Italy - €28 million 328. CD Tenerife - Association football - Spain - €28 million 329. Celta de Vigo - Association football - Spain - €28 million 330. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl - Ice Hockey - Russia - €28 million 331. PBC CSKA Moscow - Basketball - Russia - €28 million 332. Real Madrid Baloncesto - Basketball - Spain - €28 million 333. St. Kilda FC - Australian rules football - Australia - € 28 million 334. Valenciennes FC - Association football - France - €28 million 335. 1. FC Kaiserslautern - Association football - Germany - €27 million 336. AS Livorno Calcio - Association football - Italy - €27 million 337. EC Juventude - Association football - Brazil - €27 million 338. Kolkata Knight Riders - Cricket - India - €27 million 339. OGC Nice - Association football - France - €27 million 340. RCD Mallorca - Association football - Spain - €27 million 341. Real Murcia - Association football - Spain - €27 million 342. Rosenborg BK - Association football - Norway - €27 million 343. Saskatchewan Roughriders - Canadian football - Canada - €27 million 344. Wisconsin Badgers football - American football - United States - €27 million 345. Carlton FC - Australian rules football - Australia - €26 million 346. Charlton Athletic FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €26 million 347. Fremantle Dockers - Australian rules football - Australia - €26 million 348. Grenoble Foot 38 - Association football - France - €26 million 349. Mumbai Indians - Cricket - India - €26 million 350. Sporting de Gijón - Association football - Spain - €26 million 351. Al-Hilal FC - Association football - Saudi Arabia - €25 million 352. Atlant Moscow Oblast - Ice Hockey - Russia - € 25 million 353. CA Osasuna - Association football - Spain - €25 million 354. CA River Plate - Association football - Argentina - €25 million 355. FC Terek Grozny - Association football - Russia - €25 million 356. KRC Genk - Association football - Belgium - €25 million 357. Los Angeles Galaxy - Association football - United States - €25 million 358. New York Red Bulls - Association football - United States - €25 million 359. Brøndby IF - Association football - Denmark - €24 million 360. CF Pachuca - Association football - Mexico - €24 million 361. Cruz Azul - Association football - Mexico - €24 million 362. Kashiwa Reysol - Association football - Japan - €24 million 363. LG Twins - Baseball - South Korea - €24 million 364. FC Luch-Energiya Vladivostok - Association football - Russia - €24 million 365. Melbourne FC - Australian rules football - Australia - €24 million 366. Port Adelaide FC - Australian rules football - Australia - €24 million 367. Sydney Swans - Australian rules football - Australia - €24 million 368. Western Bulldogs - Australian rules football - Australia - €24 million 369. BC Lokomotiv-Kuban Krasnodar - Basketball - Russia - €23 million 370. BC Triumph Lyubertsy - Basketball - Russia - €23 million 371. Botafogo FR - Association football - Brazil - €23 million 372. Bursaspor - Association football - Turkey - €23 million 373. JEF United Ichihara Chiba - Association football - Japan - €23 million 374. Richmond FC - Australian rules football - Australia - €23 million 375. Sanfrecce Hiroshima - Association football - Japan - €23 million 376. Sheffield United FC - Association football - United Kingdom - €23 million 377. Surrey CCC - Cricket - United Kingdom - €23 million 378. TSV 1860 München - Association football - Germany - €23 million 379. Washington Huskies football - American football - United States - €23 million 380. Alemannia Aachen - Association football - Germany - €22 million 381. Al-Nassr FC - Association football - Saudi Arabia - €22 million 382. Brisbane Lions - Australian rules football - Australia - €22 million 383. Club Brugge KV - Association football - Belgium - €22 million 384. Getafe CF - Association football - Spain - €22 million 385. Kentucky Wildcats football - American football - United States - €22 million 386. Málaga CF - Association football - Spain - €22 million 387. Minnesota Golden Gophers football - American football - United States - €22 million 388. Oklahoma State Cowboys football - American football - United States - €22 million 389. Racing de Santander - Association football - Spain - €22 million 390. Recreativo de Huelva - Association football - Spain - €22 million 391. US Boulogne - Association football - France - €22 million 392. Albirex Niigata - Association football - Japan - €21 million 393. Ascoli Calcio 1898 - Association football - Italy - €21 million 394. BC Khimki - Basketball - Russia - €21 million 395. Clemson Tigers football - American football - United States - €21 million 396. Delhi Daredevils - Cricket - India - €21 million 397. Empoli FC - Association football - Italy - €21 million 398. Ittihad FC - Association football - Saudi Arabia - €21 million 399. Kyoto Sanga FC - Association football - Japan - €21 million 400. Panathinaikos FC - Association football - Greece - €21 million 401. UHC Dynamo - Ice Hockey - Russia - €21 million 402. Virginia Tech Hokies football - American football - United States - €21 million 403. Vissel Kobe - Association football - Japan - €21 million 404. Xerez CD - Association football - Spain - €21 million 405. Arizona State Sun Devils football - American football - United States - €20 million 406. AS Bari - Association football - Italy - €20 million 407. ASM Clermont Auvergne - Rugby union - France - €20 million 408. Brisbane Broncos - Rugby league - Australia - €20 million 409. Deccan Chargers - Cricket - India - €20 million 410. FC St. Pauli - Association football - Germany - €20 million 411. FC Treviso - Association football - Italy - €20 million 412. GNK Dinamo Zagreb - Association football - Croatia - €20 million 413. Hapoel Tel Aviv FC - Association football - Israel - €20 million 414. Kaizer Chiefs FC - Association football - South Africa - €20 million 415. Kings XI Punjab - Cricket - India - €20 million 416. Leicester Tigers - Rugby union - United Kingdom - €20 million 417. Levante UD - Association football - Spain - €20 million 418. MSV Duisburg - Association football - Germany - €20 million 419. Oregon Ducks football - American football - United States - €20 million 420. Orlando Pirates FC - Association football - South Africa - €20 million 421. Real Valladolid - Association football - Spain - €20 million 422. SC Bern - Ice Hockey - Switzerland - €20 million 423. USC Trojans football - American football - United States - €20 million Sportsmen with an annual income of at least €20 million 1. Tiger Woods - Golf - United States - €52 million 2. Kobe Bryant - Basketball - United States - €36 million 3. LeBron James - Basketball - United States - €33 million 4. Phil Mickelson - Golf - United States - €32 million 5. Roger Federer - Tennis - Switzerland - €32 million 6. David Beckham - Association football - United Kingdom - €27 million 7. Cristiano Ronaldo - Association football - Portugal - €26 million 8. Alex Rodriguez - Baseball - United States - €24 million 9. Michael Schumacher - Formula One - Germany - €23 million 10. Fernando Alonso - Formula One - Spain - €22 million 11. Lionel Messi - Association football - Argentina - €22 million 12. Rafael Nadal - Tennis - Spain - €21 million 13. Tom Brady - American football - United States - €21 million 14. Valentino Rossi - Motorcycle racing - Italy - €21 million 15. Derek Jeter - Baseball - United States - €20 million 16. Lewis Hamilton - Formula One - United Kingdom - €20 million
In my opinion the best leagues of 2011: 1)Primera division 2)Premier league 3)Serie A 4)Budesliga Look, spanish league has Barca. That is why i think that is the best league in the world.Also, in this league plays Real that is one of the best teams in the world.English league has at least 3 teams that are every year in champions leuge.One of these teams is United which will become better than Barca soon.Serie A has not many teams which are every year in champions league but i think that it is going to have.German league has good teams but they can play good football only between each other.The proove is that borousia beat by olimpiakos.
That's true for the UEFA coefficient. However I would still love to see a German team winning a title. Not at all costs, though. Not with the help of some foreign sugar daddies.
These discussions can be overly coloured by one's prejudices. So best to inject some metrics into the discussion in an effort to objectify matters. Let's see how transfermarkt.de estimates the player market values of various leagues: EUROPEAN TOP10 Competition Clubs Players Total value ø MV Premier League 20 523 3.285.350.000 € 164.267.500 € Primera División 20 486 2.615.100.000 € 130.755.000 € Serie A 20 594 2.232.000.000 € 111.600.000 € 1.Bundesliga 18 513 1.700.150.000 € 94.452.778 € Ligue 1 20 548 1.370.650.000 € 68.532.500 € Premier Liga 16 416 893.125.000 € 55.820.313 € Süper Lig 18 520 845.925.000 € 46.995.833 € SuperLiga 16 446 768.900.000 € 48.056.250 € Premier Liga 16 419 558.075.000 € 34.879.688 € Eredivisie 18 472 531.625.000 € 29.534.722 €
AMERICAN TOP10 Competition Clubs Players Total value ø MV forum Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 20 670 622.500.000 € 31.125.000 € Primera División Apertura 18 465 460.800.000 € 25.600.000 € Argentine First Division 20 409.140.000 € [incomplete data] Major League Soccer 18 519 153.450.000 € 8.525.000 €
The last figure (average market value per club) strikes me as the most important indicator to consider. It correlates pretty well with sound assessments of the various leagues' strengths. Though I trust leagues with say a lower average player age (e.g the Bundesliga or iirc the Brasileiro) are somewhat undervalued on account of more younger players. I stress that international club competitions aren't a particularly good indicator of league strength. Why? Because leagues vary in how top-heavy they are. Top-heavy leagues are inherently better-placed in such competitions, albeit at the expense of how competitive their domestic competition is. When assessing how strong a league is, minnows like Getafe are just as important to consider as the Real Madrids. In light of these considerations, I think the Bundesliga's stronger than Serie A. I'd say that despite not being as top-heavy a league as Serie A, having bypassed Italy in co-efficient ratings puts this beyond any doubt. Is the Bundesliga stronger than the Primera Division? I don't know. Depends on one's vantage point, I suppose. Spanish clubs still spend more on players. But it's a vastly lopsided league - with half the clubs being effectively bankrupt to boot.
How do American leagues compare to European ones? Looking at their market values, they (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina) are plainly good deal away from closing in on the BIG5. Russia and the like spend more. Now, the Brazilian league is moving up fast (and as said, these market values arguably underestimate the Brasileiro's strength to some extent), but it's still what in Europe would be a second-tier league (like Russia or Portugal). As for the US-American MLS, these estimates are quite sobering. Not only is it dwarfed by Mexico, Argentina and Brazil in its own hemisphere, but it's roughly on par with say Serbia's or Sweden's leagues. Though this is part of a sound business strategy. MLS admirably hasn't adopted the unsustainable loss-making you see in many countries. That's one reason why I like MLS a good deal. I admire the whole concept and do not understand Yanks who snub MLS in favour of European leagues. I sure would follow the Bundesliga even if the level of play were poor. Luckily it's not and our league can claim to be one of the most exciting around.
Market values is not a way to measure quality, is stupid, despite non-europeans markets have underestimate values...
Market values is not a way to measure quality, is stupid, despite non-europeans markets have underestimate values...
Why do you dismiss such data? Since that's a pretty idiosyncratic view, you should offer an explanation as to why you hold that belief. And then, what other data do you judge superior? Or do you just go with your hunches and prejudices without troubling yourself with tangible data?
The Most Prolific Marksman of the Modern Era This probably deserves its own tread but as a n00bie I haven't participated in this forum enough for this privilege. My apologies in advance and hello all! With Messi and Ronaldo knocking them in for fun, I wanted to do a statistical analysis on how these strikers compare with strikers of yesteryear (by yesteryear I really only mean from around 1991 onwards where I could obtain data). The easiest measure of how prolific a striker is their goals-to-games ratio. (a more accurate measure is goals per minutes but getting data for that would be literally be a 'statistical nightmare'). But with strikers plying their trades in different leagues - some leagues being easier to score than others, it begs the question, how would we compare across leagues? Well the IFFHS (basically official body of football stats) have since 91, ranked each country's domestic league against each other depending on how each said country performs in their continental competitions (i.e. UEFA Champs League, Copa Libertadores etc.). Don't ask me how they weight leagues across different continents but somehow they arrive at a magic number. Anyhoo, I used this info to standardise the analysis. For example, say the best league of season x is the EPL with 2000 points according to IFFHS, this will be given a standardisation coefficient of 1. Say the second best is La Liga with 1913 points then the standardisation coefficient is calculated to be 1913/2000. This coefficient is then multiplied by the goals/games ratio to give us a standardised result to compare performances across leagues (this done for each season of the player's career). Enough of the fluff, here are the results (til the end of 2010/11 season): *RAW DATA* Player Goals Games Goals/Games 1. Ronaldo 352 518 0.68 2. L.Messi 180 269 0.669 3. R. Van Nistelrooy 342 555 0.616 4. D. Villa 193 356 0.542 5. S. Eto'o 251 470 0.534 6. L. Toni 167 328 0.509 7. C. Ronaldo 209 412 0.507 8. D. Drogba 200 411 0.487 9. T. Henry 319 681 0.468 10. Raul Gonzalez 342 792 0.432 *STANDARDISED DATA* Player Weighted Goals Games Weighted Goals/Games 1. L.Messi 164.995 269 0.613 2. Ronaldo 290.844 518 0.561 3. R. Van Nistelrooy 282.324 555 0.509 4. C. Ronaldo 204.593 412 0.497 5. D. Villa 175.845 356 0.494 6. S. Eto'o 228.456 470 0.486 7. D. Drogba 178.647 411 0.435 8. L. Toni 140.779 328 0.429 9. T. Henry 288.634 681 0.424 10. Raul Gonzalez 282.324 792 0.397 Interesting to see Messi come out on top with Ronaldo starting and ending career in Brazil causing his standardised ratio to drop. Cristiano Ronaldo benefits hugely from standardisation as he played in the EPL when it was considered to be best, then switched over to La Liga when it was the best. I expect both to be in more dominant positions at the end of the 11/12 season. Amazing considering neither are out and out strikers. Would love to hear your thoughts and any strikers you want rated