The top 20 richest sports club owners in the world named with Man City's Sheikh Mansour only sixth

The top 20 richest sports club owners have been revealed by new research.

Owning a sports club isn't exactly a cheap business, with many who take on clubs expecting to lose money on their investments unless in the event of significant, groundbreaking success.

The revenue earned in the Premier League certainly helps, but as per Deloitte, 18 of the 20 clubs that competed in the division last season spent over half of their seasonal revenue on player wages.

With football becoming even more of a business, clubs are turning to revolutionary methods in order to avoid the increasingly high amounts of money committed by owners to the transfer market each window.

NFL teams, meanwhile, earn billions in revenue each year through national and international deals, as well as other means, and some teams even record a profit.

There is also increasing amounts of money being made in domestic cricket around the globe, with the Indian Premier League (IPL) captivating fans worldwide.

With that in mind, OLBG have conducted research, as per Forbes and Bloomberg, on the top 20 richest sports club owners in the world - and the final list features owners from a range of different sports.

On top of the list by some margin is the owner of NBA franchise Los Angeles Clippers, Steve Ballmer, who is said to be worth a staggering $99.2 billion.

The highest-placed football owner is Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim, who owns Spanish side Real Oviedo. He is said to be worth $84.6 billion.

Manchester City's Sheikh Mansour, meanwhile, is in sixth position and valued at $40 billion.

Prospective Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is currently in control of Ligue 1 side Nice, is ranked 15th with an overall reported worth of $12.1 billion.

Here is the full top 20 list:

1. Steve Ballmer (Los Angeles Clippers/NBA) - $99.2 billion
2. Carlos Slim (Real Oviedo/Football) - $84.6 billion
3. Mukesh Ambani (Mumbai Indians/Cricket) - $75.8 billion
4. David Thomson (Winnipeg Jets, Manitoba Moose/NHL) - $52 billion
5. Francois Pinault (Stade Rennais/Football) - $41.7 billion
6. Sheikh Mansour (Manchester City, Melbourne City, New York City, Mumbai City/Football) - $40 billion
7. Mohammad Bin Salman (Newcastle United/Football) - $25 billion
8. Daniel Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers/NBA) - $20.2 billion
9. Andrea Agnelli and family (Juventus/Football) - $19.1 billion
10. David Tepper (Carolina Panthers/NFL, Charlotte FC/Football) - $15.5 billion
11. Ann and Stanley Kroenke (Arsenal, Colorado Rapids/Football, Los Angeles Rams/NFL, Denver Nuggets/NBA, Colorado Avalanche/NHL) - $14.9 million
12. Hasso Plattner and family (San Jose Sharks/NHL) - $14 billion
13. Steve Cohen (New York Mets/MLB) - $13.2 billion
14. Philip Anschutz (Los Angeles Kings/NHL, LA Galaxy/Football) - $13.2 billion
15. Sir Jim Ratcliffe (OGC Nice/Football) - $12.1 billion
16. Robert Pera (Memphis Grizzlies/NBA) - $11.9 billion
17. Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys/NFL) - $11 billion
18. Christopher Johnson (New York Jets/NFL) - $10.7 billion
19. The Coates family (Stoke City/Football) - $10.563 billion
20. Dmitry Rybolovlev (AS Monaco/Football) - $10.5 billion