Barcelona, Real Madrid grab top-2 spots on list of best paid sporting teams in the world2Photo© firstpost.com

Barcelona, Real Madrid grab top-2 spots on list of best paid sporting teams in the world

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Barcelona have retained their position as the world's best paid professional sports team while National Basketball Association (NBA) sides took seven out of the top 10 places this year, a study by research body Sporting Intelligence has revealed.

Data from the annual Global Sports Salary Survey shows the average basic pay at the Spanish giants this season is 9.8 million pounds ($12.75 million), dipping slightly from last year's 10.5 million pounds.

Barcelona holding onto top spot is largely down to Argentina forward Lionel Messi's gross basic annual pay of more than 50 million pounds including guaranteed image rights fees.