This article, written by Andrew Heathcote, originally appeared on BRW magazine's website, brw.com.au, and can be viewed in full here.

The Collingwood Football Club has booked a record $16.4 million net profit for 2013 and has boosted its claims on the title as the most valuable sporting club in Australia.

On November 25, Collingwood released its financial results for the year to October 31, 2013. They show an operating profit of $5.2 million on revenue of $75.23 million.

The net profit result is substantially augmented by $11.2 million in development funding from the federal government and Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust.

Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert said the big profit will be re-invested back into the club and its facilities.

“It has never been more important in Australian sport to be financially sustainable, to be able to determine our own future, retain our identity and protect our brand,” Pert said.

The financial results are believed to be the best ever by an Australian sporting club.  Club president Eddie McGuire described it as a “great result”.

“The club’s strong financial position has allowed us to create the ultimate Collingwood vision of Australian sport’s best training and administrative complex, a facility that can hold its own against the best sports clubs around the world.”

Impressive growth
While Collingwood does not appear on lists of the most valuable sporting clubs in the world, its growth is impressive by global standards.

According to US magazine Forbes, the most valuable sporting club in the world is Real Madrid. Forbes suggests the giant Spanish soccer club is worth $US3.3 billion, which is about 5.1 times its annual revenue.  Most of the world’s top 20 soccer clubs are worth at least two times annual revenue, which suggests Collingwood could be worth up to $150 million.

The Brisbane Broncos, which is the only Australian football club with publicly traded shares, has a market capitalisation of $26 million on the ASX. It turned over $32.9 million last year.

This article, written by Andrew Heathcote, originally appeared on BRW magazine's website, brw.com.au, and can be viewed in full here.