The Swiss Ramble uses his unrivalled data bank and forensic skills to analyse the financial performances of the top 15 clubs in Europe. Much more in depth analysis can be found on his Substack page.
England still dominate the top 15 with the usual Big Six
(Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham
Hotspur), while the next highest contributors with three apiece are Spain
(Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid) and Italy (Inter, Juventus and
Milan). Germany provide two clubs (Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund), while
Paris Saint-Germain are the sole French representative.
Looking at the combined results for the top 15 clubs, they
still lose money, but there has been a significant reduction in losses
(excluding exceptional items) from £1.4 bln in 2021/22 to £257m in 2024/25. The Premier League’s average loss
widened from £55m to £70m. Three of the
other leagues swung from a loss in 2021/22 to a profit in 2024/25, most notably
La Liga (from £134m loss to £9m profit) and Serie A (£116m loss to £11m
profit), as well as the Bundesliga (£6m loss to £22m profit).
Only three clubs actually managed to generate an operating
profit in 2024/25, namely Inter £59m, Real Madrid £36m and Barcelona £13m. At the other end of the spectrum, we find
Chelsea, whose £258m operating loss was more than twice as much as the next
highest clubs (Manchester City £93m, Paris Saint-Germain £93m and Tottenham
£91m). In fact, Chelsea had the largest operating loss in each of the last two
season and the second largest in the preceding two seasons.
Chelsea and Manchester City have made seriously big money
from player sales with £627m and £571m respectively in the last seven seasons.
They were a long way ahead of the next highest clubs, namely Juventus £444m,
Real Madrid £429m and Paris Saint-Germain £385m.
Revenue
There has been impressive revenue growth among the top 15
clubs, as this has increased by around a third since 2021/22, rising £147m from
£453m to £600m.
Although match day is the smallest revenue stream, it was
comfortably the fastest growing in the three years from 2021/22 to 2024/25 for
the top 15 clubs, rising by 71% from an average of £68m to £116m. This was due to a number of factors,
including higher attendances, stadium development, greater focus on corporate
hospitality and ticket price increases. In addition, the expanded format in
UEFA competitions led to more games.
The highest match day revenue was in Spain with Real Madrid
£196m and Barcelona £176m, though both clubs were boosted by the once-off sale
of Personal Seat Licences to super-VIP customers. They should see future growth
when the developments at the Bernabéu and Camp Nou are completed.
The next highest were Manchester United £160m and Arsenal
£154m, while two other English clubs also generated more than £100m (Liverpool
and Tottenham with £126m apiece). This was also a big money-spinner for Paris
Saint-Germain £149m and Bayern Munich £124m.
Broadcasting income continued to rise, but the rate of
growth was the lowest of the revenue streams, as it was only up by 15% (£29m)
from £184m to £213m. Total commercial
revenue for the top 15 clubs on average has grown by £70m (35%) from £201m to
£271m, largely because of the significant increase in Spain, up £156m (78%)
from £200m to £356m.
La Liga clubs have massively increased their commercial
income in this period. Real Madrid climbed £230m (85%) from £269m to £499m,
driven by merchandising and sponsorship activities, including the club’s first
ever sleeve sponsorship with HP. Similarly, Barcelona was up £197m (82%) from
£241m to £438m, partly due to the club’s decision to bring retail operations
in-house, as well as new sponsorship deals with Nike and Spotify.
Costs
The largest increase in wages since 2021/22 was registered
by Arsenal, up £134m (63%) from £212m to £347m, as they built a Premier League
winning squad. The Gunners were followed by Bayern Munich £73m (26%), Liverpool
£62m (17%) and Manchester City £55m (15%).
Although the elite have largely managed to keep a lid on
staff costs, there has been an enormous increase in other expenses, which shot
up £66m (53%) from £123m to £189m in the last three years. Apart from higher inflation on services and
utilities, this represents the other side of the coin for stadium development
and bringing operations in-house, as these actions will increase the cost base.
Even before the record-breaking last two seasons, there was
a sizeable increase in average transfer spend for the top 15 clubs, which rose
£64m (59%) from £108m to £172m. Three
clubs splashed out more than £300m in 2024/25, namely Manchester City £353m,
Manchester United £343m and Chelsea £305m. This was significantly more than the
clubs outside the Premier League, where the highest were Paris Sant-Germain
£215m, Atletico Madrid £196m and Juventus £181m.
This cost category of other expenses is invariably ignored
by supporters, who are much more interested in transfers and player wages, but
it has become increasingly important for football clubs, rising every season
since the COVID-impacted 2020/21 season, when costs were lower due to staging
games with no fans. This is particularly
the case for clubs with a large stadium and those involved in European
competitions with the consequent impact on travel and accommodation costs.
Interest payments and debt
The average net interest payable for the top 15 clubs has
increased by £3m (20%) from £15m to £18m, though this is much more of an issue
in some countries than others, notably Spain.
There has been a significant increase in debt, which has
risen by £188m (60%) from £316m to £504m as an average for the top 15 clubs. However, this was mainly driven by two
leagues, as La Liga shot up £292m (44%) from £660m to £952m, while the Premier
League almost doubled from £324m to £616m. Ligue 1 debt was also up a fair bit,
rising £108m (81%) from £133m to £241m.
Three clubs owed more than a billion in financial debt in
2024/25, led by Chelsea £1.4 bln (to finance BlueCo’s “project”), ahead of Real
Madrid and Barcelona with £1.2 bln apiece, largely to finance their major
stadium redevelopments. The next
highest were both in England, namely Tottenham £852m (to fund their new
stadium) and Manchester United £637m (the lingering impact of the Glazers’
leveraged buy-out).
Owner funding for the top 15 clubs has reduced since
2021/22, as the average has dropped by £15m (27%) from £55m to £40m. However this was very largely driven by steep
reductions in France, Italy and Germany, while there were small increases in
England and Spain.
In the three seasons since 2021/22, there has been a clear
improvement in profitability in all of the major leagues – with the exception
of the Premier League (and even there the losses have not increased by much). the Premier League’s financial strength
runs a lot deeper, so it is comfortably ahead of its rivals, looking at the
leagues as a whole.
This helps explain why English clubs have been so successful
in UEFA’s lesser tournaments, being victorious in the Europa League and
Conference League in five of the last tournaments, but have not dominated the
Champions League in the same way, only picking up the trophy three times in the
last 14 seasons. This is because
revenue has significantly grown, while the increase in staff costs has been
relatively restrained, leading to a major reduction in the wages to turnover
ratio. However, there has been a steep rise in the other costs of running the
business.
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