'It jumped to £100m' - Leeds United brand valued above Celtic's and Lazio's as expert talks 'Premier League dynasty'

Real Madrid, Barcelona and the two Manchester clubs made up the top four and each of the Premier League’s self-proclaimed ‘big six’ occupied the top 10 in the brand valuation consultancy’s report, which ranks the top 50 most valuable and strongest global football club brands.

Further down the list was a new entry, Leeds United, coming in at 40 ahead of the likes of Benfica, Brighton, Celtic and Lazio.

Promotion and a fine first season in the Premier League combined for a 26 per cent rise in a brand now valued at just over £100m.

Hugo Hensley, Brand Finance’s head of sport services, applies the firm’s expertise to the sporting world for clubs and their corporate sponsors, to help create commercial partnerships.

“To value the club’s brands we use ‘royalty relief’ and the main theory is if Leeds United didn’t own their brand and had to license it to bring in fans, sponsors and drive revenue, what would they have to pay to license it, and if they were to buy it, what would it cost?” he told the YEP.

Three main factors went into the brand valuation: its strength and how it can create positive perceptions among fans, players, managers, broadcasters and sponsors; how it drives different revenue streams from broadcasting, matchdays, merchandising and sponsorship and how the club’s financial forecast looks.

In Leeds’ case, the likelihood of maintaining Premier League status, their chances of ending up in Europe and potential future stadium developments were all factored in.

Just getting to the top flight had a significant impact on how Leeds’ brand was priced.

“The biggest bump came when they were promoted,” said Hensley.

“It brings in a whole set of new revenue steams from Premier League broadcasting, more valuable sponsors and a bit more value from matchday [when fans return].

“It also increases the brand strength.

“It brings higher perceptions as a quality club but it’s also going to have an influence on other consumer perceptions, such as being a club with a strong heritage back in the Premier League.

“When they were promoted the brand value jumped from about £20m to about £80, mostly on the basis of broadcasting revenue.

“But this year with the success they’ve had and the potential to stay for a few years, it jumped to £100m. That pushed them into our top 50 football brands.”

Promotion unlocked high-profile commercial agreements, like a kit deal with sportswear manufacturing giant Adidas and Hensley expects Leeds to grow further on that front.

“That’s the area of the business that most strongly drives brand value, corporate sponsorships and merchandising,” he said.

“Consider how many people turn up on a matchday, you’re limited by stadium size and how many games you have. But you can triple the amount of money coming in from sponsors.

“There’s still so much room ahead. Brand is the main part of those deals that can really push a club like Leeds from a Championship brand value of £20m to Premier League level of over £100m.”

On-the-field success plays a huge part in perceptions and Leeds’ top-10 finish did wonders for how they are viewed by fans and potential sponsors, but ahead of a second season in the Premier League they’re at a crossroads.

“Leeds have done very well,” said Hensley.

“They’ve played a very entertaining style, they’re everyone’s second team but you see where Sheffield United were last year, with a brand value slightly below where Leeds are now, and that’s dropped back down to £66m after a terrible season.

“Leeds have one of two directions to go. Strengthening and solidifying their place in the Premier League will push up the value, reduce the risk on future cashflows and build more confident sponsorships with partners willing to pen longer deals for more money, convinced they’ll still get that exposure from Leeds.

“There’s a risk of relegation, which really knocks value off your brand because it’s exposed to a smaller audience and less associated with the success of the Premier League and its millions of global fans.”

Leeds already boasted a huge worldwide following before promotion.