English Premier League teams no longer dominate football’s rich list
THE Premier League is renowned for being the best football league in the world, but the fiercely competitive tournament does not always translate into money.
English teams have slipped out of the top four of Deloitte’s Money League for the first time in 29 years, according to an annual survey of the highest revenue generating football clubs globally.
Instead, the top four is made up of clubs who consistently dominate their respective leagues, almost always winning domestic trophies and qualifying for the most lucrative European and global tournaments.
Spain’s Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, as well as Germany’s Bayern Munich and France’s Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), now make up the top four. Since Deloitte launched the table in 1997, there has always been an English team in the top four places of the league, which measures annual revenue figures but not profits and losses for the world’s top football clubs.
Despite winning the Premier League, Liverpool FC could only make it to fifth in the table. It is the first time Liverpool is the top English club, helped by a return to the Uefa Champions League and a 7 per cent rise in commercial revenue, which was attributed to hosting additional non-matchday events at their home stadium, Anfield.
Manchester United’s drop to eighth in the league, due to poor performance, significantly cut their broadcast revenue from 258 million euros (S$388 million) to 206 million euros.
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This loss stemmed primarily from missing out on the Champions League and finishing 15th domestically. With no European football qualification and early exits from both domestic cups, the club will have zero football revenue this season outside English competitions.
City neighbours Manchester City dropped four places to sixth, due to a lower Premier League finish and an earlier Champions League exit compared to the previous season.
The significant revenue generated by Premier League broadcast rights, particularly in international markets, still led to English clubs filling the lower half of the top 10 global revenue generators.
According to Sam Boor, a partner in Deloitte’s sports business group, commercial revenue has become increasingly vital for the financial models of Europe’s biggest clubs, as they capitalise on their brands and continuously seek innovative income streams beyond traditional matchday earnings.
Top placed Real Madrid, with a recently completed state-of-the-art stadium, maintained its top spot in the table, reported a 6 per cent decrease in matchday revenue, but saw commercial revenue grow by 23 per cent, boosted by improved merchandise sales and new commercial partners.
Spanish rivals Barcelona secured the second spot with 975 million euros in revenue, despite playing away from the Spotify Camp Nou due to its ongoing reconstruction. They have since returned to the stadium, but with restricted capacity, awaiting completion.
A significant factor in Barcelona’s 27 per cent revenue growth from the previous season was a one-off boost of 70 million euros generated by the introduction of personal seat licenses.
Fourth place was taken by Bayern Munich, with revenues of 861 million euros. The German club was lifted into the Deloitte top three for the first time since the 2020/21 season, thanks in part to a boost in broadcast revenue from participating in the Club World Cup.
Meanwhile, Champions League winners PSG, like all French teams, saw their revenue negatively impacted by a downturn in their domestic broadcast deal.
The Premier League’s increased competitiveness leads to “volatility”, which can negatively impact revenue in both the short and long term, said Ashley Mould, principal for sports analytics and advisory at the law firm LCP.
Mould noted that the big clubs in Spain, Germany, Italy and France have been strategically increasing revenue in recent years. Examples include La Liga’s expansion into the US and Middle East, Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium development, and the international brand building efforts of PSG, Serie A and the Bundesliga. BLOOMBERG
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