The Forbes ranking of the fifty richest sports brands doesn't make Italy smile. On the contrary. The only two local brands in the top list are: Ferrari (in twenty-first place) and Milan (in thirty-seventh).
Real Madrid is the richest sports club in the world. The Merengues undermine Manchester United from the top, with a value of 3,3 billion dollars. The Red Devils, after 9 years of domination in this special ranking, have to settle for second place with 3,165 billion. Third place still goes to a football club, the bronze medal goes to Messi's Barcelona with assets estimated at 2,6 billion. At the foot of the podium are the baseball New York Yankees (2,3 billion). The top ten is completed by: American football's Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots, baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers and again the Washington Redskins, the New York Giants and Arsene Wenger's Arsenal (the London club is estimated at around 1,326 billion).
To find an Italian company you have to go down to position 21, where the Maranello red is located, which confirms itself as a brand of absolute international level (1,150 billion). The first Italian football club is AC Milan, Berlusconi's team is estimated at 945 million dollars and occupies the 37th position in this ranking. However, both companies worsen the 2012 ranking: for Montezemolo the drop is from 15th place to 21st; ten places less for the AC Milan club (it was 27th).
