Against a background of recession and economic turbulence in Europe people are continuing to enjoy their football. The latest report from Deloitte Sports Business shows that the football market is continuing to grow, although the Bundesliga remains the most profitable league.
Here are some highlights we have not covered in earlier reports:
Against a background of recession and economic turbulence in Europe people are continuing to enjoy their football. The latest report from Deloitte Sports Business shows that the football market is continuing to grow, although the Bundesliga remains the most profitable league.
Here are some highlights we have not covered in earlier reports:
- The total European football market grew to a record £15.3 billion in 2010/11;
- Premier League clubs generated the highest revenue (£2.3 billion) of any league in Europe in 2010/11, followed by Germany and Spain (each £1.6 billion), Italy (£1.4 billion), and France (£0.9 billion);
- The Bundesliga remained Europe’s most profitable league with operating profits of £154m, a 24% increase on the previous year and widening the gap to the Premier League, where operating profits decreased by £16m to £68m;
- The top 92 English clubs invested £167m in stadia and facilities in 2010/11 and over £3 billion has been invested over the last 20 years. This is likely to increase further in the future given the anticipated investment in training ground facilities resulting from the introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP);
- Average league capacity utilisation at Premier League clubs was above 90% for the 15th consecutive season, despite total attendances at Premier League matches decreasing by 2% in 2011/12;
- Net debt in respect of Premier League clubs fell by £351m (13%) to £2.4 billion, its lowest level since 2006. This overall reduction is not representative of the experience of every club, with increases at around half the Premier League clubs;
- The Government’s tax take from the top 92 professional football clubs was almost £1.2 billion in 2010/11, a £219m (23%) increase, largely due to the increase in VAT (to 20%) and the introduction of the 50% rate for earnings over £150,000.
Of the £2.4 billion net debt in the Premier League, 62% (£1.5 billion) is in the form of non-interest bearing ‘soft loans’, of which almost 90% relates to three clubs – Chelsea (£819m), Newcastle United (£277m) and Fulham (£200m). On the positive side of the balance sheet, Premier League clubs recorded a carrying value of tangible fixed assets of almost £1.9 billion, reflecting the huge investment in facilities seen over the past two decades and a carrying value of player registrations of around £1.2 billion.
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