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9 hours ago
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The Premier League’s financial power continues to blow its European rivals out of the water, with combined revenues almost double those in Germany and Spain according to newly released figures from Uefa.
In the latest evidence of England’s sizeable competitive advantage, Uefa’s annual European club finance and investment landscape report showed Premier League clubs reporting revenue of just over €7.1bn (£5.9bn) in the 2023 financial year. The top flight’s nearest competitors, La Liga and the Bundesliga, brought in €3.7bn and €3.6bn respectively. It forms part of a wider picture in which revenues in the continent’s top divisions totalled €26.8bn, 17% more than before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The median revenue for a Premier League club stood 60% higher than their Bundesliga equivalents and more than three times those in Serie A and La Liga, in what is essentially a comparison between mid-table sides. This was primarily driven by broadcast money and the disparity looks likely to become more dramatic in the coming years amid a broadly bleak picture for television rights figures across many of the major leagues.
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Domestic broadcasting revenues across the board grew by a modest 3% in the five years to 2023, paling in comparison with much greater leaps in commercial, sponsor and gate income. Early data for 2024 points to an 11% rise in gate revenues last year, with income from premium seating a major driver. Crowds were shown to be up 6% on pre-pandemic levels.
Premier League clubs’ player wages ate up 49% of their revenue on average. Salaries rose by only 3% around the continent in 2023 and 4.5% across early-reporting clubs in 2024. Uefa feels it is evidence its cost control rules, which will cap spending on wages and transfers at 70% of revenue for next season, are kicking in after being rolled out gradually in the past two years. A 19% increase in non-player wage growth suggests clubs are committing to heavier investment in technical and administrative staff. Total wages among top-division clubs in Europe topped €18bn.
The report detailed that Chelsea’s squad at the end of the 2024 financial year was the most expensive ever, its combined transfer cost standing at €1.66bn and surpassing the €1.33m spent by Real Madrid to assemble their 2020 squad. Three other clubs, all in the Premier League, had squads that cost more than €1bn: Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.
Nine English clubs were included in the continent’s top 20 wage bills for 2023-24, City leading the top flight’s contingent by taking second place behind Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal, United, Tottenham and Liverpool were among eight European sides to take more than €100m in gate revenue in 2023.
