Most valuable Portuguese football clubs 2025
Sporting CP was the Portuguese soccer club with the highest market value as of January 2025, reaching a total worth of 474 million euros. The second-most valuable club in the country that month was FC Porto, worth roughly 360 million euros. In third place, SL Benfica was worth 348 million euros. As of January 2024, the three teams played in the Primeira Liga, the highest professional soccer division in Portugal.
National dominance of Sporting CP, FC Porto, and SL Benfica
The dominance of the Big Three in Portugal has allowed SL Benfica, FC Porto, and Sporting CP to create a gap between themselves and the rest of the domestic opponents. In fact, these clubs have won 88 out of 90 editions of the Primeira Liga. With such prominence, players from the Big Three often generate impressive offensive output. In the 2022/2023 season, the players Taremi, Pedro Gonçalves, and João Mário, respectively from FC Porto, Sporting CP, and SL Benfica, had the highest goal participation for their positions.
The Big Three work as selling clubs
Although winning competitions increases the value of the clubs, the Big Three are also efficient negotiators. In the 21st century, Portugal became the gate into Europe for South American players. The business model is to buy young players from the region, develop them technically, and sell them to clubs with greater economic power. SL Benfica has not only mastered this way of dealing, but has also been able to sell their young Portuguese players, such as João Félix, who represents the highest transfer in Portuguese football history.
