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Real Madrid break through £1 billion barrier

The Deloitte Money League for 2025 has now been made available.

The 2023/24 season created football history, as Real Madrid became the first football club to generate €1 billion across a single season. The club’s financial success during the season was underpinned by the newly renovated and expanded Bernabéu Stadium, which delivered significant uplifts to matchday and commercial revenue over the previous season. 

Cumulatively, the Money League clubs in 2023/24 generated a record €11.2 billion, an increase of 6% over the 2022/23 season, with record matchday, commercial and broadcast revenues. In 2023/24, the average Money League club generated €560m, comprised of €244m (44%) commercial revenue, €213m (38%) broadcast revenue, and €103m (18%) matchday revenue. 

A rise in clubs’ stadium capacity, general ticket prices and premium matchday offerings caused matchday revenues to grow 11% year-on-year, making it the fastest growing revenue stream for Money League clubs once again. Matchday revenue surpassed €2 billion (€2.1 billion) for the first time in the history of the publication, accounting for 18% of total revenue, the highest share since 2014/15 - 19%. 

At €4.9 billion, commercial remained the largest revenue source for Money League clubs for the second year running, accounting for 44% of total revenue. The 10% uplift over the previous year was largely driven by an increase in the hosting of non-football live events, improved retail performance and a rise in sponsorship revenues.

During the 2023/24 season, several football clubs hosted major sporting events in their stadia, boosting commercial revenues. For instance, select French clubs benefitted from the 2023 Rugby World Cup and German clubs from the 2024 UEFA EUROs. Recognition of the reliability and potential upside from venue-generated income has led to half of the Money League clubs pursuing stadia redevelopment in 2025, including FC Barcelona and Manchester City (presently in the construction phase) and Manchester United (currently exploring available options to redevelop Old Trafford).  

Additionally, eight Money League clubs reported stronger retail performance, highlighting their ability to leverage brand value and sporting success to drive commercial revenue and likely a move towards clubs controlling more of the value chain from the sale of merchandising than ever before – perhaps a sign of how the business model of football clubs is evolving for the future.

In contrast, there was no uplift in the broadcast revenue (€4.3 billion) cumulatively reported by Money League clubs in 2023/24, as each of the ‘big five’ leagues remained in the same domestic broadcast cycle as the preceding season. The ‘big five’ leagues have or will be entering, a period of relatively stable broadcast revenues due to longer-term domestic media rights deals through to at least 2027.

 The Premier League will reportedly benefit from an uplift in the value of its international media rights from 2025/26, primarily through new agreements across the MENA and APAC regions. Furthermore, in November the Premier League announced plans to establish an in-house media operation, signalling a potential evolution to its business model. Launching in 2026/27, this initiative will be responsible for the production and distribution of international media, potentially reshaping the league’s relationship with broadcast partners. 

Here is a clear distinction in revenue generation models between the two halves of the 2023/24 Money League. For clubs ranked in the top 10, commercial revenue is the dominant income source, accounting for 48% of club revenues. Contrastingly, broadcast is the key revenue driver for clubs ranked 11-20, representing 47% of club revenues. Both sets of clubs respectively generated 18% of their total revenue from matchday. 

The trend for the most financially successful clubs to leverage the growth in commercial revenue is illustrated by the evolution of the split between the different revenue streams. In 2009/10, the revenue profile of the clubs ranked 1-10 and 11-20 was largely the same. Matchday accounted for 26% and 23% of total revenues across each group respectively, broadcast 43% and 44%, and commercial 31% and 33%.

This indicates that, historically, business models of Money League clubs were relatively similar, with on-pitch performance driving financial success. While, 14 years on, this seemingly remains the case for clubs ranked 11-20, the same can’t be said for clubs ranked 1-10. In 2023/24, the top 10 clubs’ revenue composition was more heavily skewed towards commercial revenue, ultimately driving differences in the significance of this (1-10; 48%; 11-20: 34%) and broadcast (1-10: 34%; 11-20: 47%) for clubs at either end of the Money League.  

This indicates that while several Money League clubs leverage their global profile to drive club revenues, notably sponsorship and retail, several clubs, particularly those in the lower half of the Money League, are still reliant on on-pitch success. Since the 2016/17 season, while only 11 clubs have featured in the top-10 of the Money League, 18 different clubs featured in the bottom half. 

 

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