Gap between the Big Six and the rest is growing

There is much talk about the so-called 'Big Six' pulling away from the rest of the Premier League financially, but is this actually true asks the authoritative Swiss Ramble? Note that in this analysis the seventh placed club as measured by revenue and wages is not always the same from one season to another.

The gap between the club with the 6th highest revenue (Tottenham Hostpur £379m) and 7th highest (Everton £189m) shot up to £190m in 2018, compared to £73m in 2017 (though this would have been higher without Leicester City's £70m Champions League money). Back in 2010 the gap was only £29m.

One reason for the growing gap between sixth and seventh highest revenue clubs is investment in new stadia, which has increased match day revenue at Spurs from £37m to £76m, while this has actually fallen at the 7th placed club from £24m to £16m.

The equitable Premier League TV deal means there has been relatively little change in the gap between sixth and seventh highest revenue clubs in terms of broadcasting income, though even here this has grown by £17m since 2010. From 2019/20 the new distribution model for overseas deals will further increase the gap. In contrast, the gap between sixth and seventh highest revenue clubs for European TV money (Champions League and Europa League) has risen by £42m since 2010. In particular, Tottenham Hotspur's European revenue rose from £5m to £54m in last 3 years. New UEFA deals are likely to accelerate this trend.

The good news for the seventh placed club is that commercial income has doubled from £14m to £30m since 2010, but the bad news is that this revenue stream has more than tripled at the sixth placed club from £32m to £103m, which means the gap has widened from £17m to £73m in this period.

In summary, the 2018 gap between the sixth and seventh highest revenue clubs in the Premier League of £190m comes from all revenue streams, led by commercial £73m and match day £59m. The £58m difference in broadcasting is dominated by European competitions £42m with only £17m domestic.

However, in contrast to revenue, the gap between the sixth and seventh highest wages clubs in the Premier League has actually fallen in the last 4 years to just £2m (Spurs £148m vs. Everton £145m), partly due to Short Term Cost Controls (financial fair play), which restricted wages growth. The relative parsimony of Tottenham Hotspur is also a factor and the gap between the fifth and seventh placed clubs has grown, although it has narrowed in the last two years.

The Swiss Ramble concludes, 'To sum up, the revenue gap between the Big Six and the rest of the league continues to grow apace. While the story appear to be not quite so clear-cut in wages and transfer spend, it is much the same if we exclude low spending Tottenham Hotspur from the comparison.'

Wolves get raw deal from FFP

I used to see a lifelong Wolves fan for lunch once a month. He was approaching ninety, but still went to games. Sadly he passed away the other week. As football finance guru Kieran Maguire has noted, Wolves continue to be constrained by financial fair play rules. Radio 4 this morning described them as this year's 'crisis club' and the pessimists have certainly been piling in. Martin Samuel wrote sympathetically in the Sunday Times yesterday, saying that the Premier League drives talent away with regulatory red tape: 'Why could Al-Hilal sign Neves? Because Wolves needed the money. And why did Wolves need the money? Because the club had to comply with an artificial construct known as financial fair play. So Wolves are going skint, yes? No. There is no suggestion that Wolves are in financial trouble, only that they are failing to meet the rigours of FFP. Wolves’ owners appear to have the money to run the club, and invest in the club, and in fact came up with a pow

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000. The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts. Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day income is

Charlton takeover approved

The long awaited takeover of Charlton Athletic by SE7 Partners from Thomas Sandgaard has been approved: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/se7-partners-obtain-efl-approval-for-charlton-athletic-takeover/ Charlton have had unhappy experiences with owners for over a decade, so how this works out will remain to be seen. There is certainly potential there, but will it be realised? This interview with Charlie Methven gives detail not available elsewhere: https://thecharltondossier.com/charlie-methven-on-the-record/

The Political Economy of Football V2

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