Top flight football revenue hits £4.9bn
Premier League club revenues grew by 8% to £4.9bn, up from £4.5bn in 2020/21, and are expected to continue growing this season
The Premier League was the only one of the ‘big five’ European leagues to see clubs improve total operating profits in the year, which cumulatively increased from £49m to £479m. Net debt at the end of the 2020/21 season increased just 4% to £4.1bn, according to the latest Deloitte football revenue report.
Matchday revenue fell to just £31m with the majority of revenue at Premier League clubs generated from broadcast revenue and sponsorship deals.
Premier League clubs’ wage costs increased 5% to £3.5bn in 2020/21, with only seven of the 17 consistent Premier League clubs reporting a reduction in wages.
While operating profits in Premier League clubs increased from £49m to £479m during the 2020/21 season, pre-tax losses remained significant despite decreasing from £991m to £669m. This is the third consecutive year that Premier League clubs have reported pre-tax losses, with only four clubs reporting a pre-tax profit in 2020/21.
The European football market as a whole saw revenues grow by 10% to €27.6bn in 2020/21 (€25.2bn in 2019/20) despite an almost complete absence of fans from stadia during the season.
Tim Bridge, lead partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: ‘Clubs across Europe played a significant proportion of matches behind closed doors or with reduced capacity during the 2020/21 season which caused an almost complete loss of matchday revenue.
‘It’s testament to the resilience of the industry, the value driven by broadcast deals and the success of the Euros that the European football market has achieved tenacious growth, in revenue terms, over the past year.
‘However, it is important not to overlook the loss-making position of many clubs. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the financial management of European football, with leagues and clubs having to seek external investment and responding to a shift in trends around transfer spending and club operations.
‘Leaps made to boost financial sustainability through new UEFA regulations and to professionalise the women’s game will challenge clubs to break from tradition, potentially boosting profitability in a notoriously loss-making industry and creating a more inclusive environment for all. It is an exciting period, but one to be well prepared for.’
Sam Boor, sports M&A advisory lead in Deloitte’s sports business group, said: ‘Football is proving an attractive opportunity for a growing pool of international investors, whose confidence has been buoyed by clubs’ recovery post-Covid.
‘To ensure that new investment brings value to all – those on the pitch, in the stands and in the boardrooms – the importance of responsible investment, which protects the financial and operational sustainability of clubs, cannot be overemphasised.’
Story wrote by Sara White.