The Deloitte Money League has received extensive coverage, but It is well worth picking out some highlights from the Swiss Ramble’s forensic analysis in which he identifies key trends in football finance. Subscribe to his Substack page for much more detail – and insights.
There are no fewer than six Premier League clubs in the Top
10, split between three from the North West of England (Liverpool 5th,
Manchester City 6th and Manchester United 8th) and three from London (Arsenal
7th, Tottenham 9th and Chelsea 10th). That’s
pretty impressive, though it was also the first time in this report’s history
that no English side featured in the top four, largely due to the positive
impact of the FIFA Club World Cup on some continental clubs.
In addition, we find three other English clubs in the bottom
half of the Top 20: Aston Villa 14th, Newcastle United 17th and West Ham 20th. The total number of English clubs in the Top
20 was unchanged at nine, but was still down from the all-time high of 11 in
2021/22.
The largest improvements in the rankings were registered by
Benfica, up six places from 25th to 19th, due to Club World Cup money;
Barcelona, up four places from 6th to 2nd, driven by increases in sponsorship
and merchandising; and Aston Villa, up four places from 18th to 14th, after
their return to the Champions League.
In contrast, both Manchester clubs dropped four places. City
were down from 2nd to 6th, as they had worse results on the pitch, while United
declined from 4th to 8th, which is actually their lowest ever position in the
Money League.
There are different revenue mixes among the top 20 clubs, often depending on the country, though Real Madrid have the highest amounts in each revenue stream with £196m match day, £281m broadcasting and £499m commercial. In terms of share of total revenue, Manchester United had the highest match day 24%; Aston Villa the highest broadcasting 64% and Bayern Munich the highest commercial 54%.
There is a clear distinction in revenue generation models
between the two halves of the Money League. For the elite clubs ranked in the
top 10, commercial is the most important revenue source, accounting for 48% of
total revenue. In contrast, broadcast is the dominant factor for the clubs
ranked 11-20 with 49%. In other words,
the leading clubs are much more able to capitalise on their brand, leading to
significant commercial growth, while other clubs are more reliant on central TV
rights deals.
The only two clubs that saw reductions in revenue were both
from England. West Ham dropped £45m, as the previous season benefited from
reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League, while Manchester City were
down £24m, due to less sporting success.
The star of the show in England was Aston Villa, whose
revenue shot up 42% from £267m to £378m, which is a huge new club record. This
was driven by the return to the Champions League after more than 40 seasons out
of Europe’s leading tournament. As a
result, Villa climbed four places from 18th to 14th, their best ever ranking,
though they are likely to fall back in the next edition, as they are only
playing in the Europa League this season.
Looking at how clubs’ revenue ranking compares to wages, we
can see that the club that has “outperformed” the most is Inter, as their
revenue ranking of 11 was four places better than their wages ranking of 15.
They were followed by their neighbours Milan and Bayern Munich, both three
places better. The worst performer was
Newcastle United, followed by Aston Villa, then Chelsea, West Ham and PSG. In
other words, quite a few English clubs have high wage bills relative to their
revenue.
The Swiss Ramble warns, ‘Organisations should also resist
the temptation to squeeze every last drop of juice from the orange by further
increasing an already congested fixture schedule.’
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