List of sports clubs by membership

This page lists the sports clubs with the largest number of members in the world. In many European countries, professional football teams are not organized as clubs, but as corporations. This includes all teams in the English Premier League and most teams in the Spanish Primera División and the Italian Serie A. They therefore do not appear on this list, although they sometimes offer interested persons the opportunity to become 'members' for a fee, which gives them advantages in the purchase of tickets and merchandise. In the big four sports leagues in the United States and Canada, clubs are usually franchises owned by private investors. In Germany, most professional sport teams are organized as corporations (GmbH or Aktiengesellschaft); however, in accordance with the 50+1 rule, the majority of votes lies with the registered associations (e. V.), which have members.

## List of largest sports clubs

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This list contains all clubs with a current membership of 75,000 or more, provided this is sufficiently documented. There may be other clubs that meet this criterion. The data is based on various sources and may therefore vary in terms of the survey period or the standards applied, which may limit comparability. The inclusion of inactive members who have stopped paying their membership fees alongside active members who actually pay their fees is another factor that can distort the reliability of this list.

Sports clubs with more than 75,000 members  Rank  | Sports club  | Place  | Members  | Date

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|
|
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1  | Club Atlético River Plate | Buenos Aires,  Argentina | 335,945  | August 2023[1]
2  | FC Bayern Munich | Munich,  Germany | 316,000  | November 2023[2]
3  | Boca Juniors | Buenos Aires,  Argentina | 315,879  | August 2023[1]
4  | S.L. Benfica | Lisbon,  Portugal | 298,948  | June 2023[3]
5  | Borussia Dortmund | Dortmund,  Germany | 200,000  | May 2024[4]
Tasmania Football Club | Tasmania,  Australia | 200,000  | May 2024[5]
7  | FC Schalke 04 | Gelsenkirchen,  Germany | 180,000  | December 2023[6]
8  | German Alpine Club Munich section | Munich,  Germany | 179,391  | December 2023[7]
9  | German Alpine Club Oberland section | Munich,  Germany | 174,515  | December 2023[7]
10  | Melbourne Cricket Club | Melbourne,  Australia | 157,708  | 31 August 2022[8]
11  | FC Barcelona | Barcelona,  Spain | 150,317  | May 2023[9]
12  | Sporting CP | Lisbon,  Portugal | 146,292  | March 2024[10]
13  | Eintracht Frankfurt | Frankfurt,  Germany | 140,000  | March 2024[11]
14  | SC Internacional | Porto Alegre,  Brazil | 135,000  | March 2024[12]
15  | 1\. FC Köln | Cologne,  Germany | 132,439  | September 2023[13]
16  | FC Porto | Porto,  Portugal | 131,037  | September 2024[14]
17  | HNK Hajduk Split | Split,  Croatia | 120,637  | August 2024[15]
18  | Grêmio FBPA | Porto Alegre,  Brazil | 114,425  | September 2023[16]
19  | Collingwood Football Club | Melbourne,  Australia | 110,102  | 2024[17]
20  | West Coast Eagles | Perth,  Australia | 103,275  | 2023[18]
21  | Austrian Alpine Club Edelweiss section | Vienna,  Austria | 102,435  | December 2022[19]
22  | Richmond Football Club | Melbourne,  Australia | 101,349  | 2023[18]
23  | Hamburger SV | Hamburg,  Germany | 100,000  | September 2023[20]
VfB Stuttgart | Stuttgart,  Germany | 100,000  | 3rd May 2024[21]
Borussia Mönchengladbach | Mönchengladbach,  Germany | 100,000  | December 2023[22]
24  | Real Madrid CF | Madrid,  Spain | 99,781  | December 2023[23]
25  | Carlton Football Club | Melbourne,  Australia | 95,277  | 2023[18]
26  | Club Atlético Independiente | Avellaneda,  Argentina | 95,173  | August 2023[1]
27  | CR Flamengo | Rio de Janeiro,  Brazil | 89,859  | March 2023[24]
28  | Essendon Football Club | Melbourne,  Australia | 86,274  | 2023[18]
29  | Feyenoord Rotterdam | Rotterdam,  Netherlands | 85,000  | May 2024[25]
30  | Racing Club de Avellaneda | Avellaneda,  Argentina | 83,717  | August 2023[1]
31  | CR Vasco da Gama | Rio de Janeiro,  Brazil | 82,611  | January 2021[26]
32  | Geelong Football Club | Geelong,  Australia | 82,155  | 2023[18]
33  | Hawthorn Football Club | Melbourne,  Australia | 80,698  | 2023[18]
34  | San Lorenzo de Almagro | Buenos Aires,  Argentina | 80,410  | August 2023[1]
35  | Austrian Alpine Club Austria section | Vienna,  Austria | 78,211  | December 2022[19]

## See also

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* Sports club
* List of fan-owned sports teams

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e "River Plate alcanzó una cifra récord de socios y quedó segundo en el ranking mundial". infobae (in European Spanish). 2023-08-04. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
2. ^ "FC Bayern München eV: results and records presented at this year's AGM". fcbayern.com. 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
3. ^ Abola.pt (2023-09-23). "Benfica com 298.948 sócios ativos! | Abola.pt". Abola.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-01-29.
4. ^ "BVB begrüßt das 200.000. Vereinsmitglied". bvb.de (in German). 2024-05-18. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
5. ^ "Tasmania Football Club's first big signing: Brendon Gale to be inaugural CEO". Tasmanian Football Club. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
6. ^ Heßbrügge, Rolf (2023-12-06). "Schalke: Das ist die schöne Bescherung in der Weihnachtszeit". www.waz.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-29.
7. ^ a b "Magazin des Deutschen Alpenvereins (DAV)". www.alpenverein.de (in German). 2023-08-29. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
8. ^ "Final MCC Annual Report |" (PDF). 2023-06-23. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
9. ^ "Xavi's son becomes FC Barcelona member". fcbarcelona.com. 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
10. ^ "Sporting regista recorde de sócios pagantes em 2023". www.record.pt (in European Portuguese). 2024-03-07. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
11. ^ "Marke von 140 000 Mitgliedern überschritten". Eintracht Frankfurt (in German). Retrieved 2024-04-26.
12. ^ "Inter supera 107 mil sócios e impulsiona venda de camisas após chegada de Valencia". ge (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2024-03-07. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
13. ^ "Membership". 1\. FC Köln.
14. ^ "Nova administração da SAD do FC Porto corta quase três quartos de remuneração fixa". SIC Notícias. 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
15. ^ "Članstvo (Membership)". April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
16. ^ "Rumo aos 120 mil; Veja o número de sócios do Grêmio em 2023". Grêmio News. 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
17. ^ "Collingwood break membership record for second consecutive year". Collingwood FC. 2024-08-04. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
18. ^ a b c d e f "Pies leapfrog rival duo as 15 clubs set records: 2023 AFL membership ladder revealed". Fox Sports. 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
19. ^ a b Jahresbericht 2022 p. 16
20. ^ "Wir sind 100.000!". HSV e.V. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
21. ^ "Über 100.000 Dunkelrote!". VfB Stuttgart (in German). Retrieved 2024-05-06.
22. ^ "Borussia Mönchengladbach | Wir sind 100.000! 💚". Borussia Mönchengladbach (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-29.
23. ^ "Cómo hacerse socio del Real Madrid: carnet, abonos, entradas y beneficios". goal.com (in Spanish). 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
24. ^ "Transparência - Flamengo". www.flamengo.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-01-29.
25. ^ "Het Legioen - De officiële supportersclub van Feyenoord - Legioen". hetlegioen.feyenoord.nl. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
26. ^ Montalvão, Tauan (2021-02-18). "Vasco divulga número de sócios em janeiro de 2021; confira". Vasco Notícias (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-01-29.