Barcelona doubles income in less than two years

According to update given by the Primera Liga club, revenue has increased significantly from €123m in 2002/03 to an expected €240m in the current campaign. The main reason for the increase in income has been attributed to the commercial influence of signing star players like strikers Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o. The impact made over the past two seasons, since Joan Laporta replaced Joan Gaspart as president. Under Laporta’s regime the club has taken great strides commercially, and now are the sixth most lucrative club in Europe behind Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea. The club is only now rectifying their earning capacity after generating the same amount of income in the 1995/96 season as Manchester United - €2m. However, United then proceeded to develop merchandising strategies that have become a benchmark for other European clubs.