The Political Economy of Football V2

The Champions League continues to be a fantastic money-spinner for the elite clubs, even before the 21% increase in revenue next season when the new “Swiss model” will be implemented, so the gap with the “also rans” looks likely to further grow. Five clubs have earned more than €100m from this season’s Champions League, namely Real Madrid €133m, Paris Saint-Germain €121m, Borussia Dortmund €120m, Bayern Munich €119m and Manchester City €109m. They are closely followed by three clubs “in the nineties”: Barcelona €97m, Arsenal €93m and Atletico Madrid €92m. As would be expected, the two Champions League finalists have earned the most prize money: Real Madrid €66.5m and Borussia Dortmund €59.2m. The Spaniards have received more than the Germans, due to a far better record in the group stage, where they won all six games. They were followed by semi-finalists Bayern Munich €48.9m and Paris Saint-Germain €40.6m, then the quarter-finalists: Manchester City €38.5m, Atletico Madrid €34.2m...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has provided financial overviews for leading Dutch clubs. Ajax's pre-tax profit fell €42m from €69m to €27m, mainly due to revenue dropping €37m (19%) from a record €199m to €162m and expenses increasing by €17m, partly offset by profit on player sales rising €12m to €84m. Debt now includes €151m financial leases. PSV's revenue fell €25m (26%) from €97m to €72m, as they competed in the Europa League, rather than the Champions League in the prior season. As a result, their operating loss widened to €41m, but pre-tax profit only fell from €6m to €2m, due to profit from player sales rising €26m to €47m. Feyernood r evenue was up 4% to €73m thanks to reaching Europa League group stage. However, their pre-tax loss slightly worse at €9m, highest in the Eredivisie, as profit from player sales fell from €8m to €4m. Wages up €3m to €38m, but 51% wages to turnover ratio lowest in league. AZ had the second highest pre-tax profit in Netherlands of €8m, despit...