Barcelona clearly stronger off the pitch
When FC Barcelona and Juventus Turin meet in the Champions League final on Saturday, the sporting duel will be decided in Berlin's Olympiastadion. At least off the pitch, Barcelona already have the Italian champions behind them.
This is shown by a comparison of sponsorship and social media figures by the German consultancy Repucom. In terms of income from TV and media rights, the two clubs are still on a par. The Spaniards took in 161 million euros in the season, Juventus 151 million euros. However, as Repucom announced on Thursday, FC Barcelona's big lead is already clear when it comes to sponsorship and advertising revenue. In the 2013/14 season, Barça took in 160 million euros, more than twice as much as its Italian rival with 60 million euros. The team led by superstar Lionel Messi is also ahead in terms of the market value of the squad with an estimated 592 million euros, while Juve's market value is estimated at 320 million euros.
Fans prefer Barça
The number of fans interested in one of the two clubs is another example of the Catalans' dominance. Worldwide, 540 million football fans have an interest in FC Barcelona, while 290 million fans indicate an interest in Juventus. FC Barcelona's English-language Facebook profile has around 83 million fans, four times as many as Juventus' profile (18 million fans). Despite these impressive figures for Barça, the Italians have nothing to hide when it comes to social media. Juventus' Twitter account has more than 1.8 million followers, which represents a huge increase of 30 percent within the current Champions League season. By comparison, Barça's Twitter fan base grew by 19 percent in the same period. (SDA)
