According to the European Football Association, after 20 years of continuous growth, the clubs were faced with a deficit of 4 billion euros in the 2019-2020 season and 3 billion a season later.
This is due to a sharp decline in ticket revenues from empty stadiums (EUR 4.4 billion in lost revenues), a decline in commercial and sponsorship activities (an estimated decrease of EUR 1.7 billion) and a slightly smaller impact on the TV rights (0.9 billion).
New study
These figures correspond to the forecasts that UEFA announced in May 2021. It assumed a loss of 7.2 billion euros in two years for 711 clubs from the top divisions in Europe.
The new study includes the consolidated results of the same more than 700 clubs for 2020 and the projected financial results of 95 major clubs for the year 2021, which was mainly characterized by closed-door matches.
Austere transfer market
Those long months of empty stadiums have led to a drastic drop in ticket revenue. These have plummeted by 88 percent in 2021 compared to 2019.
UEFA has also analyzed the effect of the corona crisis on the transfer market. “Transfer revenues fell 40 percent in the summer of 2020, January 2021 and the summer of 2021” from their original levels, according to UEFA, which estimates that European clubs will pay €3.8 billion in the summer of 2021. spend, compared to 6.5 billion in the summer of 2019.
recovery
The European Football Association also emphasizes the recovery of recent months. “The fans seem more excited than ever to return to the stadium.” UEFA also points to a revival of the just past winter transfer window.
According to UEFA estimates, EUR 950 million was spent in Europe last month. That total is only 10 percent lower than the average (winter) transfer period between 2017 and 2019.
Source: UEFA/Het Nieuwsblad