Premier League - Clubs post record losses
Premier League clubs' revenues rose above £2 billion for the first time in the 2009/10 season but wage increases and record pre-tax losses are worrying, the Deloitte Annual Report of Football Finance said.
Revenue at England's top 20 clubs was a record £2.030bn in 2009/10 and will have exceeded £2.2bn in 2010/11 in the first season under new broadcast deals.
However, 16 of the Premier League's 20 clubs made losses, totalling a record £484m, and the same number relied on funding from their wealthy owners.
The 20th annual edition of the influential report said Premier League football has shown "remarkable recession resistance" during the global economic crisis.
"At many football clubs, it's very hard to get season tickets," Alex Byars, Senior Consultant in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, told Reuters.
"It's one of the last things fans are willing to give up (in a financial crisis). Football is a bit of a release and escape from the rest of the working week."
But all is not rosy in the Premier League even if it again outstripped other European top flights in terms of revenue while England's second tier Championship gets bigger average attendances than first divisions in Spain, Italy and France.
The rise in Premier League clubs' total wage costs (£64 million) exceeded the rise in revenue (£49m) for a second straight year, driving total wages above £1.4bn and resulting in a record wages/revenue ratio of 68 per cent.
"The record pre-tax losses of £445m in 2009/10 are also a concern, particularly as credit is likely to remain less available to football clubs than it was two or three years ago," Byars added.
"This may also, in part, explain why gross transfer spending by Premier League clubs decreased by more than 20 per cent from the record £713m in 2008/09 to £559m in 2009/10."
Although less than 10 per cent of the Premier League revenue increase fed into operating profits, which rose from £79m to £83m, the small rise was impressive compared to the Bundesliga where they fell 20 per cent to £113m.
However, Germany's top flight is still the most profitable league in the world ahead of the Premier League.
The report noted UEFA financial fair play rules are starting to come into force with clubs expected to break even before possible sanctions for non-compliance from the 2013/14 season.
Deloitte said Premier League clubs were well-placed for the new rules and had time to make the necessary adjustments.
Their net debt fell by 20 per cent, from £3.3bn in 2008/09 to £2.6bn in 2009/10, due to several factors including debt to equity conversions - notably at Manchester City - and property sales in Arsenal's case.
Comment 56 - 75 of 75
all this debt and arsenal are getting slaughtered for not spending??? whats wrong with the press in this country we should be praised for not spending what we havent got,oh and during this time arsenal have fiananced a move to a 60,000 all seater stadium.6 years without a trophy so what no one has a divine right to win a trophy do they and there are only 3 trophies up for grabs in england,proving that teams are buying trophies these days chelsea,man city,barca,real madrid oh and m utd all spend 50 to 150 million every year trying to BUY trophies not for us at arsenal were keep trying to do it the proper way.and since arsene has been in charge we havent finished outside the top four and qualify for champions league EVERY YEAR.TRY DOIN IT THE ARSENAL WAY ITS ALOT HARDER.
I think Madrid leads the way in terms of losses and i rate Chelsea second, thanks to Abramovic's £71m splash over 24hours, though real's figure is unanymous to me.
I think Madrid leads the way in terms of losses and i rate Chelsea second, thanks to Abramovic's £71m splash over 24hours, though real's figure is unanymous to me.
good. might stop some of the corruption and simple theft.
The clubs need to made to pay their debts. Call in the money owing. Any small business is not allowed to go on and on owing even 1% or less than what these clubs owe. The game is not a sport any more the players are dramatists, prima donnas. Putting money in and paying such ridiculous wages takes away the sportsmanship.
From a sports loving person
It was inevitable, wasn't it? With footballers getting paid ever more ridiculous wages year after year, sooner or later the bubble was going to burst. What's next? Cubs will go bankrupt and they will all be on JSA. How will the "poor little sods" cope?
Agree with Gavin, I would never have Sky Sports. It controls the product we see, when we see it and how it develops. It also pays too much and we lose out from watching a better product on BBC who cannot compete. Golf, tennis, football etc are all covered better by BBC and I object to paying more money to be dictated to by a global corporation like Sky
about time the banks called in the loans , and sunk some of the clubs ,that way the survivors will rethink the policy of over inflated wages to numpties kicking a ball about .
The sad thing is that Clubs who are solvent cannot afford the players to compete with the top rung Premiership. Look at WBA always referred to a Boing Boing Baggies and ridiculed.They have no money to throw away and rely on a great manager to take them forward. What will happed when the owners pull out of these high priced clubs? Will the football league collapse - I suppose it must so lets hope companies like WBA can weather the storm until this happens
It's quite simple. The players are paid too much and the ticket prices are too high.
Let's hope they don't apply to be bailed out by the banks that we taxpayers own. We have our own bills to pay.
Let's sincerely hope and pray that we don't get a government bail-out for THIS lot!!! Let 'em ALL get in the dole queue.
Are we all shocked, don't think so. Overated overpaid players, managers getting the boot with huge payouts, stupid transfer fee's and agents fee's. It needs one of the so called big clubs to be wound up and put out of business. Maybe then the rest would look and act. Ashley may well have it right at Newcastle. Don't give in to stupid wage demands, don't give in to twighlight players stupid contract demands and don't bend to agents either. Sell on anything thats a burden. Buy decent young players for a few million. Use the clubs assets (Andy Carroll cost nothing sold 35m) to clear off the debts.
Good i can't stand the game it's full of fools and primadonna's.
The top clubs are owned by mega rich billionaires. If they ran there businesses like they do their clibs, they would soon go under.
The only reason they keep afloat is due to their highly inflated egos.Stupid men.
Oh yes, why sack the managers, it's the players who should be fired for not doing their jobs
It isn't just down to players' and agents' wages and fees being far too high.
In the early seventies it cost just a quid to watch a first division side play.
Now it costs 50 quid for a ticket and then if you take your son it's even more; plus the train fare to the stadium and something to eat before the match kicks off.
If you go away, there's a possibility of being battered and spat on.
Why would anyone want to suffer all that just to boost the players' ego's. Thanks, but no thanks!
I'll watch it on the telly...
What do you expect? When these clubs get together and start paying sensible wages to people who contribute nothing to society except the ability to kick a ball about then maybe they will get their financial affairs in order. People in entertainment are generally overpaid and although entertainment has a place in society it is not worth the sums being paid. I know sporstmen have a limited shelf life at their chosen sport sport but when they reach it they should go and do ordinary work like the rest of us. It comes to something when someone who plays ball gets a transfer fee many times the value of the wages a nurse will earn in the whole of her working life.
The greed in the world will not allow for reasonable transfer deals and wages. All are involved. The Clubs, need to raise money to buy replacements/profit; the Agents who feed from these fees and the players trying to get the best when they are at their best too. A vicious circle. Anyway, the sponsors, or owners are mostly rich billionaire, and they know how to get it from other sources which the poor masses who must consume goods and services have to pay.
Football and other entertainment do not actually create anything for society. True, entertainment is needed as a realease mechanism but there is no way to justify the crazy amounts of money consumed by sport and entertainment whilst the likes of scientists and engineers are struggling to fund projects that are for the betterment of life standards for all. medical science is but one example of this.
We are still years from having a cure for diabetes, cancer, alzheimers and so many more just due to lack of funding. Instead of paying stupidly high prices for sports and concert tickets put the money to better use. Either save up and buy shares in research companies or donate it to charities that support medical research. You can then watch the game or concert on the TV at home or in the pub for free with the good feeling of having also helped others!
As for on topic: footballers are overpaid, everyone knows this, but baseball players, F1 racers, Basketball players, American Football players still get more, football is catching up though. I feel sorry for the Cricket players.
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