FCBARCELONA.CAT

23.06.2009 18:10

Barca the club with biggest media impact

www.fcbarcelona.cat

FC Barcelona is the club with most global media impact according to a study carried out at the University of Navarra. One of the reasons for the club’s preeminent position is undoubtedly the presence of stars like Leo Messi.

The ESI investigation group at the University of Navarra has published a report on relative media values in football and Barca is the club with the highest media value in the world, with 86.2 points, just ahead of the team they beat in Rome to lift the Champions League this year, Manchester United on 86.

Spectacular football catches media attention

The club’s position is due not just to its triple winning achievements, but also to the spectacular football they’ve played all season and the presence of so many media stars in the squad. Third in the rankings are Chelsea on 58,5 points, Milan are fourth with 49,8 and Madrid fifth with just 48,5 points.

Messi tops the list

The report also values individual players impact and Leo Messi on 21,9 points heads the list, taking over from Cristian Ronaldo who drops to second spot with 21 points. Amongst the top 20 are five Barca players: Messi, Henry in eighth place, Eto’o in ninth, Xavi in fifteenth and Iniesta in nineteenth spot. The presence of these stars in the top 20 is clearly an important factor in Barca’s top spot in the club ranking.

Press and website coverage

The ESI draws up its report on the basis of news items collected throughout the year from the press and websites. Leo Messi’s presence in these media was, for example, 20 times greater than the average of the 850 footballers who took part ion this year’s Champions League competition.