The Political Economy of Football V2

The works team was once a common feature of football in the UK, particularly at the non-league level, including my non-league club Lockheed then AP Leamington and still referred to as the Brakes. My father as a non-league footballer thought that works clubs were particularly difficult to play against given that their players were given cushy jobs in the factory and plenty of time off to train. As implied by the club’s name, Philips Sport Vereniging (Philips Sports Union), the electronics giant Philips has close ties with PSV Eindhoven.   Indeed, the club started out in 1913 as a works team for employees of the conglomerate. It has extended its sponsorship of the club to 2031, covering stadium naming rights and participation in an innovative cooperation with four other Dutch companies under the Brainport Eindhoven name, which features on the front of the shirt. The Swiss Ramble has undertaken his usual forensic analysis of the club’s accounts; much more detail is available on ...

PSV Eindhoven celebrated their 110th anniversary in some style in 2023/24, as they won their 25th league title, while they also reached the last 16 of the Champions League and won the Johan Cruyff Shield, though they were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup by Feyenoord. The club said that the 2023/24 season was “not only a sporting success, but also a financial success”, as they managed to post a €13.2m pre-tax profit (€9.7m after tax), though this was a little lower than the previous year’s €17.5m. This was driven by a huge new club record for revenue, which shot up €51.5m (51%) from €100.6m to €152.1m, though this was partly offset by profit from player sales halving from €61.1m to €31.3m. PSV’s revenue growth was on the back of doing well in Europe, which led to a steep increase in broadcasting income: this more than doubled from €28.5m to €62.3m. However, there was also good growth in match day, up €9.0m (37%) from €24.7m to €33.7m, and commercial, up €8.6m (18%...

PSV did very well off the pitch in 2022/23, as they managed to increase their pre-tax profit from €1.4m to €17.5m, with revenue rising €7.4m (8%) from €93.2m to a new club record of €100.6m, which was the first time they broke through the €100m barrier. However, expenses also grew €7.9m (6%) from €134.8m to €142.7m, so the club still made an operating loss of €42.1m. This was more than offset by €61.1m profit from player sales, up from €44.2m, which produced the overall positive result. PSV’s revenue growth was almost entirely driven by match day, which rose €7.0m (40%) from €17.7m to €24.7m, though there were also small increases in the other two revenue streams. Broadcasting was up €0.3m (1%) from €28.2m to €28.5m, while commercial was €0.1m higher at €47.5m. Unlike many other leagues, the majority of clubs in the Eredivisie generally make money, but PSV’s €17.5m pre-tax profit was the second best result, only behind Ajax’s very high €55m. The other member of the Dutch “big thr...