Messi’s Barca Remains Best-Paid Sports Team, Ronaldo’s Juventus Jumps Up To No. 3

FC Barcelona have reportedly retained their crown as the highest-paid team in global sport, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing has helped Juventus jump to the third spot.

As per the annual Global Sports Salaries Survey (GSSS) carried out by Sportingintelligence, the average basic first-team pay at Barca is $12.2 million per year for the ongoing season.

Even though the Catalan club has suffered a slight drop from last year, they are still ahead of their Spanish rivals Real Madrid, whose average basic first-team pay is $11.1 million.

The club that has gone through the best development among the top-flight clubs is Italy’s Juventus, who have jumped to third from the ninth spot in the list.

After they made some high-profile signings including Ronaldo’s, they had jumped from No. 32 to No. 10 last season before they made the podium this edition.

Meanwhile, the rest of the top 10 belongs to National Basketball Association (NBA) teams with the Portland Trail Blazers and 2018/19 runners-up Golden State Warriors completing the top five.

"It is not entirely a coincidence that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, the world's top three wage payers (by average salary) are also among the top five most popular teams in any sport, anywhere, measured by their popularity across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter combined," the GSSS report said.

One of the primary reasons for Barcelona to retain the top spot is Lionel Messi's contract in 2018 which pays him more than $65 million a season, including guaranteed image rights fees and a release clause worth $775 million.