Europe’s football clubs occupy more money than ever – the clubs of the Premier League and Real Madrid benefit from this in particular.
In 2023, the English first division teams ingested almost as much money as the clubs of the Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga. This emerges from the latest report on the “financial and investment environment in European club football” from UEFA.
The clubs of the Bundesliga consolidated their economically good position in the ranking of Europe’s top nations and in 2023 increased their income by twelve percent to EUR 3.618 billion compared to the previous year. But the German clubs do not come close to the leaders England for a long time.
| league | sum | the change |
|---|---|---|
England | 7.15 billion | +11% |
Spain | 3.65 billion | +9% |
Germany | 3.62 billion | +12% |
Italy | 2.88 billion | +23% |
France | 2.37 billion | +19% |
Russia | 0.98 billion | -7% |
Netherlands | 0.68 billion | +8% |
Record income For Europe’s clubs
According to UEFA, the income of Europe’s football clubs increased in a record level. 26.8 billion euros flowed to the accounts of the over 700 first division clubs, compared to the previous year the income rose by 2.9 billion euros and thus more than ever.
Despite the Corona pandemic, the income between 2014 and 2024 increased by over one billion euros of 16.5 billion euros (2014) in an expected more than 29 billion euros in the financial year 2024. What the gap between the top 5 leagues and the rest of the contingent is illustrated by the fact that more than 70 percent of the income on Germany, England, France, Italy and Spain illustrates omit.
The income from TV rights make up the biggest difference to the remaining leagues. Sponsoring revenues are the biggest difference factor at the club level.
Real Madrid and Premier League economically at the forefront
Real Madrid was the only club to crack the billion mark. Of the top 20 in the overall revenue, nine clubs from the Premier League, three from Germany, three from Spain, three from Italy and two from France came alone
| club | revenue |
|---|---|
real Madrid | 1.073 |
Manchester City | 854 |
Paris Saint-Germain | 808 |
Manchester United | 771 |
| Bayern Munich | 765 |
FC Barcelona | 764 |
arsenal | 715 |
Liverpool FC | 714 |
Tottenham Hotspur | 615 |
FC Chelsea | 519 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 519 |
Atletico Madrid | 408 |
AC Milan | 406 |
Inter Milan | 401 |
Newcastle United | 368 |
Juventus Turin | 360 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 352 |
Aston Villa | 322 |
West Ham United | 322 |
Olympique Marseille | 287 |
The report makes it clear that for many clubs the names of sponsorship, merchandise and admission ticket sales play an increasingly important role, while growth on the market of TV rights is slowing down or even declining. Nevertheless, the TV money continues to play a major role and here too the Premier League 2023 was far ahead with more than three billion euros per year. The Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A each only came to a little more than a billion.
Bundesliga at Transfer proceeds far behind
Germany is by no means in all categories in the top group. In the case of the net transfer proceeds, the Bundesliga with a minus of 185 million euros is only 51st place. The leader here is the clubs from the Netherlands with a surplus of 178 million euros in front of Portugal (143 million euros surplus).
Only two Bundesliga clubs had a negative equity in 2023 – that is 45th in this category in the European ranking. In England, seven clubs showed a negative sum (18th place). It was particularly bad for the clubs from Turkey, where 19 clubs dismissed a negative equity.