FCBARCELONA.CAT

23.02.2009 18:14

Barça has second biggest media impact

www.fcbarcelona.cat

FC Barcelona remains the club with the second biggest media impact in the world, but it is the leader in the Americas according to a study. Messi is also second behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

Only Manchester United has greater media value than FC Barcelona, according to a study by the Economics, Sport and Intangibles (ESI-rg) group at the University of Navarra. The English side’s successes in the 2007/08 season when they won the Premier League and the Champions League have given them top spot with 89.6 media value points.

Barça is second on 72.8 points despite dropping seven points over the previous year. Study authors say this is down to the loss of “media stars” such as Ronaldinho (transferred to AC Milan) and Deco (to Chelsea). Chelsea is in fact in third place on 67.2 points ahead of Liverpool (60.2), AC Milan (59.7), Real Madrid (49.9) and Arsenal (46.8).

Major presence in the Americas

However, the study does highlight the importance of FC Barcelona in the Americas: "In the important Americas market FC Barcelona is the leader as it is the European club with most media impact in countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Colombia."

Battle between Cristiano and Messi

At the player level, Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) has 19.2 points and tops the classification though Leo Messi, with 18.3, has cut the gap by six points since last June.

Study authors Francesc Pujol and Pedro García del Barrio argue that "part of the media impact achieved by Cristiano Ronaldo in the first half of the season was the result of individual awards he received for his performance in the previous campaign. Thus the battle for media supremacy will be resolved by the sports successes achieved by the two clubs (Manchester United and FC Barcelona) by the end of the season."

There are two more FC Barcelona players in the top 20: Thierry Henry is 16th (8.2 points) and Samuel Eto'o 18th (7.7).

The method

The ESI-rg group at the University of Navarra uses two main variables to calculate media impact: media presence and popularity based on presence on websites linked to players or teams.