Real Madrid CF
Los Blancos · Madrid, Community of Madrid
The most decorated club in European football, and the sport's most efficient machine for converting prestige into revenue.
The club
Founded on 6 March 1902 as Madrid Football Club, Real Madrid have won LaLiga a record 36 times and the European Cup a record 15 times. The club has been owned and run by its members, socios, throughout its history, with no outside shareholder. The rebuilt Bernabéu, with its retractable pitch and year-round events programme, is the financial expression of that model.
Worth knowing
- Members have owned and operated the club throughout its history, there is no majority shareholder to sell to.
- In 2024 it became the first football club to report €1 billion in annual revenue.
- La Décima in 2014 made Madrid the first club to win ten European Cups; they are now on fifteen.
- The 11–1 win over Barcelona in a 1943 Copa del Generalísimo semi-final remains the widest margin between the two clubs.
