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For years, the revenues of the largest soccer teams in Europe have been growing exponentially due to ever increasing television revenue.  Since not all European leagues distribute television money equally, or even negotiate league wide television deals, the disparity between clubs in the same league can vary even more widely than it does in Major League Baseball.  The two teams sitting atop the Football Money League, compiled annually by Deloitte demonstrate just how much the powerful club at the top of perch make in comparison to the rest of the league.  Real Madrid, the richest, highest grossing professional sports club in the world, generated 438 million euros (roughly $603 million at today's exchange rates) in 2009/10 about 40 million Euros more than second place FC Barcelona and a staggering 100 million Euros more than third place Manchester United.

Real Madrid had a relatively even split in revenue sourcing among the three main drivers: broadcast, commercial (sponsorship and merchandise) and gameday.  For a sense of scope, Real Madrid received 158.7 million Euros in broadcast revenue pursuant to a contract it holds individually since La Liga allows its clubs to negotiate individually rather than through a centralized league contract as in the English Premier League, or all major North American leagues.  That contract gives Los Blancos more broadcast revenue than half of the Money League clubs combined.  Real Madrid receives over 150 million euros in commercial revenue, one of only two Money League clubs to do so.  It has a 20 million euro contract with Bwin for jersey sponsorship that runs through 2012/13.  However, that contract has recently been challenged in court as being contrary to Spanish competition laws.

In contrast, the highest grossing MLB club, the New York Yankees, made $441 million in revenue last year, $319 million of which came from gate receipts (gameday in paragraph above). That is less than Manchester United, the third place club on the Money League list.

The value of broadcasting contracts is significantly higher in the NFL than in MLB. In fact, the total value of the NFL's various broadcast contracts was in excess of $3.4 billion in 2009, and it grows annually, assuming no lockout this year.  The Dallas Cowboys, the NFL's most valuable franchise grossed $420 million in 2009, of which only $112 million came from gate receipts. Could explain the recent interest of NFL owners in purchasing European soccer clubs.

Toronto Maple Leaf fans turn to Eggos to express their frustration with management (Globe & Mail

Vanity Fair sits down with Sid the Kid in advance of the Winter Classic (Ovetchkin interview in print edition (VF)

Money may buy the Yankees pennants, but it won't buy NFL titles (NYTimes)

Don't hit anybody with your ball or club on a golf course in New York or you'll pay (NYTimes via Sports Law Blog)

Starting January 2, Florida Panthers are offering a money-back guarantee that you'll have a good time at their games, not that they will win, mind you, just that you'll have a good time (Sun-Sentinel Business of Sports)

ESPN says Bud Selig wants a salary cap (ESPN via The Big Lead)

Fortunately, the good folks at Sports Business Journal are around to provide us with the numbers.  For the first time since 2003, the Red Sox do not lead the majors in ratings for local cable networks, drawing a rating of 6.25 on NESN, down nearly 36% from last year.  That was good for only fifth place this year behind the resurgent Cardinals, with a 9.7 on Fox Sports Midwest, the Twins (7.85 FS North), the Phillies (7.2 on CSN Philadelphia) and the newly Reds (6.52 on FS Ohio).  It's no coincidence that each of those teams is locked in a tight race for a division lead, while the Red Sox are 8 games out of first in the AL East and had a very slow start.  

This particular edition of the BoSox has simply failed to ignite the usual passion, despite the sellout of every home game, that is normally associated with Red Sox nation and how much is attributable to the slow start is anyone's guess.   My guess is that Sox fans have become spoiled and that early season troubles made them apathetic.  They will still go to home games since it is as much a social event as a baseball game but they're too apathetic to watch a game on TV.  The cure is simple - win enough to catch the hated Yankees and all will be forgiven - even if that means staying home in October.