Featured image credit: Jonny Gios on Unsplash
The 26th edition of the Deloitte Football Money League has revealed that 11 of the top 20 revenue-generating clubs are in the English Premier League, with Manchester City retaining top spot.
The report has found that City generated €731m (£642m/$791m) during the 2021-22 season, with Spanish LaLiga club Real Madrid in second with €713.8m. City’s Premier League rival Liverpool rose from seventh to third with a figure of €701.7m, with Manchester United (€688.6m) and French Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain (€654.2m) rounding off the top five.
Third represents Liverpool’s highest position in Money League history and the club has also overtaken United for the first time after reaching the UEFA Champions League final in 2021-22. Liverpool was also only one of five clubs to report over €100m in matchday revenue and this is expected to increase further with the ongoing renovation of Anfield.
German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich placed sixth (€653.6m), LaLiga’s Barcelona came in seventh (€638.2m), and three more Premier League clubs completed the top 10 in the shape of Chelsea (€568.3m), Tottenham Hotspur (€523m) and Arsenal (€433.5m). Arsenal’s rise marked the first time since 2018-19 that a new club has entered the top 10.
Juventus was the highest-placed Italian team in 11th after posting revenue of €400.6m, ahead of Atlético Madrid (€393.9m), Borussia Dortmund (€356.9m), Inter Milan (€308.4m) and West Ham United (€301.2m).
AC Milan (€264.9m) placed 16th, with four more Premier League clubs rounding off the top 20 in Leicester City (€252.2m), Leeds United (€223.4m), Everton (€213.7m) and Newcastle United (€212.3m). It marks Leeds’ first appearance in the rankings since the 2002-03 season.
The total revenue for the top 20 clubs in 2021-22 stood at €9.2bn, an increase of 13% compared to the €8.2bn reported by Money League clubs in 2020-21. The figure was only marginally lower than pre-pandemic levels, when €9.2bn was also posted in 2018-19.
Deloitte said the rise was driven by the full return of fans after two seasons of COVID-19 impacting attendances. Matchday revenue rose from €111m in 2020-21 to €1.4bn in 2021-22, while cumulative commercial revenue rose by 8% from €3.5bn to €3.8bn.
The report found that the top 20 clubs in 2021-22 generated 15% of their revenue from matchday activities, 44% from broadcasting and 41% from commercial sources. Deloitte has predicted that the revenue superiority of English clubs is “unlikely to be challenged” in the short term.
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