The authoritative Swiss Ramble provides an overview of Premier League finances. Much more Information and analysis is available on his Substack page.
The Premier League has now lost money seven years in a row.
Obviously, this was adversely impacted by the pandemic, which led to the huge
losses reported during the COVID seasons with £992m in 2019/20 and £689m in
2020/2. However, it has not been much
better since then, losing a hefty £2.3 bln in the last four seasons, leading to
an annual average loss of £564m. That
represents a dramatic worsening compared to the performance before the
pandemic, e.g. it generated £786m profit in the four seasons up to 2018/19.
‘Creative accounting;
The Premier League’s losses in recent years would have been
even higher without the inclusion of exceptional gains from selling assets to
other group companies. This amounted to
a record £293m in 2024/25, including Newcastle United £133m, largely from the
sale of St James’ Park leasehold improvements, Aston Villa £114m from the sale
of their women’s team and the Warehouse development and Everton £49m from the
sale of their women’s club.
This was even higher than the previous two seasons, when
Chelsea made £199m in 2023/24 from the sale of their women’s team and £77m in
2022/24 after selling hotel buildings. If
these examples of “creative accounting” are excluded, then the picture looks
even worse, as the 2024/25 adjusted loss was £1.1 bln, which was in fact the
worst ever. Last season only four clubs generated a “clean”
profit, namely Liverpool, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town. This
compared to six in 2023/24, so was a step in the wrong direction.
Another factor in the deteriorating bottom line was profit
from player sales, which fell £164m from £1.1 bln to £970m, though this was
still the second best ever, comfortably ahead of the next highest gain of £836m
in 2017/18. Player trading is vitally
important in offsetting the large operating losses, especially in order to meet
the challenge of complying with PSR (and SCR going forward).
The recent growth has been aided by a couple of factors:
- More
sales of Academy products, as these represent “pure profit” in the books.
- More
player swaps, where profits can be boosted with a degree of “creativity”
that benefits both sides of the arrangement.
Revenue continues to grow
However, there’s no doubting the Premier League’s ability to
generate revenue, as it set yet another all-time high in 2024/25, rising £464m
(7%) from £6.3 bln to £6.8 bln. Four
clubs have now pretty much reached the £700m level, namely Liverpool £703m,
Manchester City £694m, Arsenal £690m and Manchester United £667m.
As pressure has increased on TV rights, clubs have looked
elsewhere for revenue growth, so match day income shot up £127m (14%) from
£915m to £1,042m, which was the first time that it has broken through the
billion Pounds barrier. It is now up by 53% since the pre-pandemic peak of
£681m in 2018/19.
The growth has been due to a number of factors, including
record attendances, stadium development and greater focus on corporate
hospitality, but also higher ticket prices, which have been raised at almost
every club after many years of price freezes. Much of the growth is also
associated with stadium moves, such as Everton’s move to the Hill Dickinson
stadium, or other development, such as Fulham’s new Riverside Stand.
There is a wide range of earnings here, as four clubs
generated more than £100m, namely Manchester United £160m, Arsenal £154m,
Tottenham £126m and Liverpool £116m, while five clubs made less than £20m
(Fulham £18m, Crystal Palace £16m, Brentford £12m, Ipswich Town £11m and
Bournemouth £7m).
Even though the domestic Premier League TV deal was flat in
the most recent deal that started in 2022/23, there was a significant rise in
international rights, including the mega NBC agreement. As a result, the amount available for
distribution increase by 10% (£243m) from £2.5 bln to £2.8 bln. This is a tremendous performance, given that
other major leagues have struggled to maintain their TV rights at the same
level with many having to accept reduced offers, especially Ligue 1.
The Swiss Ramble’s model suggests that participation in Uefa
competitions this will generate a hefty £588m revenue, a steep increase on the
£400m in 2024/25. Broadcasting income
was also inflated by the inaugural version of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup,
where England’s two representatives, Chelsea and Manchester City, earned $115m
and $52m respectively.
Although the usual explanation for the Premier League’s
revenue growth is broadcasting, commercial income is playing an increasingly
important role in the success story. Indeed,
commercial had easily the largest year-on-year increase in 2024/25, rising
£272m (13%) from £2.1 bln to a new record of £2.4 bln.
The issue is that the Big Six still dominate here,
contributing around three-quarters of the total commercial income with three of
those clubs generating more than £300m, namely Manchester City £340m,
Manchester United £333m and Liverpool £323m. In contrast, more than half of the
clubs in the top flight had less than £50m.
Wages
The Premier League’s impressive revenue growth has been
eaten up by increases in the cost base. After remaining flat the previous
season, wages climbed 9% in 2024/25, rising £353m (9%) from £4.0 bln to a big
new high of £4.4 bln.
This means that wages have doubled in the last ten years,
increasing from £2.2 bln to £4.4 bln. With the exception of 2023/24, wages have
grown every year in the last decade, even rising in 2019/20 and 2020/21, when
revenue declined due to COVID.
Five clubs paid out more than £300m in wages, namely
Liverpool £428m, Manchester City £408m, Chelsea £359m, Arsenal £347m and
Manchester United £313m. However, there remains a sizeable disparity in the
Premier League, as 12 clubs had a wage bill of £176m or lower.
The Premier League’s other expenses, effectively the clubs’
running costs, have also massively grown in the past decade, rising from £728m
to £1.9 bln. Costs dipped during the
pandemic, but have shot up since then, first due to higher costs for staging
matches with fans, then because of the impact of higher inflation, especially
on services and utilities. This also reflects the other side of the coin for
stadium development, as this not only leads to higher revenue, but also to
growth in the cost base.
These expenses have increased by a massive £355m (23%) in
2024/25, so are up by a hefty £753m (66%) in just three years. Fans often overlook this cost category, but,
to emphasise how much these have grown, the top seven clubs now pay well over
£100m, led by Tottenham £202m, Arsenal £201m, Manchester City £197m and
Liverpool £186m.
Interest and debt
The Premier League’s net interest payable continued to
increase, rising £37m (14%) from £257m to £294m, which means that this has
quadrupled in the last seven years from only £74m in 2017/18.
Gross debt significantly increased by £954m from £4.8 bln to £5.7 bln in 2024/25, which was a new high for the Premier League, comfortably overtaking the previous £5.2 bln peak in 2020. The largest external debt by far was at Chelsea, where the holding company had £1.4 bln of high-interest loans, followed by Tottenham £852m, Manchester United £637m and Everton £469m. These four clubs were responsible for 75% of the division’s third party loans on their own.
Premier League clubs have spent £4.7 bln on capital
expenditure in the last decade, including £2.5 bln in the last five years,
mainly on stadium and training ground developments. Everton were responsible for a large slice of
this infrastructure investment with a £715m outlay since 2020/21, mainly on
their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, followed by Fulham £329m, including
the new Riverside Stand, Tottenham £178m, Liverpool £160m and Aston Villa
£110m.
Premier League owners have had to provide £6.2 bln funding
in the last 10 years, comprising £3.2 bln loans and £3.0 bln capital
injections. This has substantially
increased in the last five years to £4.8 bln, mpre than three times as much as
the £1.4 bln in the preceding 5-year period.
The Swiss Ramble concludes: ‘A return to sustainability
seems as far off as ever, as the growth in operating costs was again far higher
than the increase in revenue. Revenue
has never really been an issue for the Premier League. The challenge is keeping
a lid on cost growth, which will prove very difficult for any clubs that try to
be competitive.
Whether this matters to potential investors is a more
interesting question, as they clearly see football as an asset class that is
worth their time, especially if you happen to be a billionaire with money to
burn – at least until the club can be sold at an even higher valuation'.
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