The Premier League makes so much more money from its multibillion-pound sales of television rights, tickets and commercial income that 14 of its clubs are in the highest-earning 30 in the world.
According to European football clubs’ 2016-17 financial information, collated by the accountants Deloitte, Manchester United made the most money of any club on the planet last year, £581m in total.
Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool were among the 10 richest clubs in Europe, and therefore the world, among historical giants Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus and the Qatar-backed Paris Saint-Germain.
Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City – ranked as the world’s 14th-richest club – West Ham United, Southampton and Everton were in the top 20 richest. Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City were among the 30 richest, with Bournemouth, whose stadium has a 11,464 capacity, the world’s 28th richest club, owing to being in the English top flight for only the second season in their history.
Quick GuideDeloitte Football Money League
Show
2016-17 revenue in £m (v 2015-16 revenue)
1) Manchester United 581.2 (515.3)
2) Real Madrid 579.7 (463.8)
3) Barcelona 557.1 (463.8)
4) Bayern Munich 505.1 (442.7)
5) Manchester City 453.5 (392.6)
6) Arsenal 419 (350.4)
7) PSG 417.8 (389.6)
8) Chelsea 367.8 (334.6)
9) Liverpool 364.5 (302)
10) Juventus 348.6 (253.5)
11) Tottenham 305.6 (209.2)
12) Borussia Dortmund 285.8 (212.3)
13) Atlético Madrid 234.2 (171)~
14) Leicester City 233 (128.7)
15) Internazionale 225.2 (134)
16) Schalke 197.8 (167.9)
17) West Ham 183.3 (143.8)
18) Southampton 182.3 (124.3)
19) Napoli 172.5 (107.8)
20) Everton 171.2 (121.5)
Deloitte illustrates the exponential growth in Premier League income, and Bournemouth as a beneficiary after their 2015 promotion, by pointing to the club’s status 20 years earlier. In 1996-97 Bournemouth were in the third tier and their revenue, £1.1m, made them the 10th least well-off club of the 92 in the Premier and Football Leagues. Deloitte, which says it had financial details directly from clubs whose accounts are not yet published, state Bournemouth’s income last year as £140m.
The Premier League clubs’ dominance reflects their earnings from the first year of the record £8.4bn TV deals for 2016-19, which are vastly greater than those of competing European leagues. The nearest financial competitor, the Bundesliga, whose clubs’ average attendances were significantly higher, makes far less from TV rights sales, particularly internationally.
The new four-year Bundesliga TV deals from this season amount to €4.64bn, a 85% increase on the previous deal but far below those of the Premier League, which is expected to announce further increases when sealing its 2019-22 deals in the next few months.