Deloitte have published the 23rd edition of their annual Football Money League, which ranks the world’s leading football clubs by revenue, this time covering the 2018/19 season. Some thoughts in the following thread.
The majority of the increased revenue at the top 20 clubs in 2018/19 was driven by broadcasting £544m (18%), due to new TV deals for UEFA competitions, followed by commercial £256m (9%) with match day a long way back £45m (4%). The growth profile is very different at each club. 
Spanish one-two for the second consecutive year, though Barcelona and Real Madrid switched places. No revenue growth at Madrid, but plan to emulate Barca by taking merchandising in-house next year. Atleti £324m and Valencia £163m posted impressive growth, but miles below big two.
In Germany Bayern Munich grew £24m to £582m. Borussia Dortmund narrowed the gap, increasing by £51m to £332m, but the shortfall is still £250m. Growth at Schalke 04 from £216m to £286m and Eintracht Frankfurt from £124m to £162m was mainly due to European competition.
A mixed bag for Italy, as Napoli returned to top 20, but Milan dropped out. Still second most represented country with 4 clubs. Juventus moved back into top 10, as “Ronaldo effect” saw revenue rise from £350m to £405m. Impressive £73m growth at Inter to £321m, mainly commercial.
Paris Saint-Germain’s growth from £480m to £560m, largely due to new sponsors, took them to 5th, their highest position since 2014/15. Despite Lyon increasing revenue from £145m to £195m, due to reaching Champions League last 16, this is still only around a third of PSG.
The highest placed club outside the Big Five leagues was Ajax, whose revenue almost doubled to £176m after a great Champions League run. There are two Portuguese clubs in the top 30: Benfica £174m and Porto £155m. The sole Russian representative is Zenit Saint Petersburg £159m.
The combined revenue of the top 20 clubs rose by €939m (11%) to a record €9.3 bln. Main driver of growth was broadcasting, up €575m (16%), though commercial was also significantly up €312m (9%), while match day rose €51m (4%). On track to break €10 bln in next few years.
Broadcasting remains the most valuable revenue stream with its share rising from 42% to 44%, though not as high as 45% peak in 2016/17. Commercial was unchanged at 40%, while match day further fell to 16% (down from 26% in 2009).
Well over half of the total income at PSG 57% and Bayern 54% comes from commercial income, followed by Real Madrid 47%, Barcelona 46% and #MUFC 45%. This revenue stream has increasingly become the distinguishing factor between elite clubs.
If we exclude broadcasting income, the leading clubs are broadly similar, though PSG and Bayern would both leapfrog #MUFC to be in 3rd and 4th respectively. Premier League clubs would be particularly impacted, as 7 of the 10 clubs in the top 30 would finish in lower positions.
Total number of English clubs in top 20 fell from 9 to 8 (down from high of 10 in 2017) with France increasing from 1 to 2. Still twice as many as Italy (4 clubs), while Germany and Spain had 3 clubs. For the third year in a row, there are no clubs outside Big Five leagues.
In fact, there are only 4 clubs outside the Big Five leagues in the top 30, namely Ajax £176m, Benfica £174m (fourth consecutive year), Zenit St Petersburg £159m and Porto £155m. Three earned well from the Champions League, while Zenit have an incredible £136m commercial income.
English strength is further reflected in the top 30 with 11 representatives, though this is 2 fewer than last year and well down from the peak of 17 in 2014. To underpin the Premier League’s strength, #WWFC £172m are in 25th place immediately after promotion to the top tier.
Highest growth of the top ranked club in each of the “Big Five” leagues came from Barcelona €150m (22%), followed by PSG €94m, (17%) Juventus €65m (16%), #MUFC €46m (7%) and Bayern Munich €31m (5%).
The gap between top and bottom, defined as 1st place to 20th place, increased from €553m to a record €633m. This has been on a steadily upward trend, more than tripling from €207 million in 2006. In other words, it’s the usual story of the rich getting richer.
On the other hand, the gap between the 10th place club and 11th place club further narrowed from €33m to €14m, mainly due to #AFC €446m dropping out of the top 10. There is then a sizeable gap of €69m to Borussia Dortmund in 12th place (€377m).
The financial threshold for membership of the Money League club has increased to more than €200m for the first time at €207m. This has become increasingly challenging, basically doubling in the 10 years since 2009 from €102m.
Just for a bit of fun, let’s now take a look at some of the comparisons between the leading clubs in each country to better understand the reasons for the revenue differential.
The £74m gap between first (Barcelona £741m) and second (Real Madrid £667m) has never been bigger. It should narrow next year when Madrid also bring their merchandising in-house. The Catalan club is on target to achieve its ambition of being the first to generate €1 bln revenue.
Despite solid revenue growth by Borussia Dortmund to £332m, Bayern Munich are still a quarter of a billion pounds higher at £582m. The Bavarians earn more in all categories, but the major difference (£182m) is in commercial income.
In Italy both Juventus £405m and Inter £321m reported good growth in 2018/19, but the difference is still £84m. The Bianconeri earn more across the board, but the main drivers are European TV (£39m) and commercial income (£27m), despite Inter’s innovative deals with their owners.
In France PSG £560m are miles ahead of their closest challenger, Lyon £195m, generating almost three times as much as revenue. The commercial difference £270m is enormous, but match day is also £65m higher, despite Lyon’s move to a new stadium.
Although the Money League only gives a partial picture of finances, focusing on revenue, it remains a useful indicator of success on the pitch. The rankings of individual clubs will largely depend on the timing of new TV deals and commercial sponsorships.
