This KPMG report also known as the Football Benchmark use five
football-specific measures to extrapolate an Enterprise Value (EV )
including; Broadcasting Rights, Profitability, Popularity, Sporting
Potential, and Stadium Ownership.
Andrea Sartori, KPMG’s Global Head of Sports noted, “For the
third consecutive year, the overall EV of the 32 most prominent
European football clubs has increased by 9%... The transition of
major clubs into media and entertainment companies, with global
brand exposure, also helps create more stable and predictable cash
flows and consequently better warranties to investors and financiers”.
The situation is replicated in the Deloitte’s Bull’s Eye Football Money
League 2019 report with a similar scenario to KPMG’s report of 6
EPL sides as outlined in the infographic here-in:
These reports have buttressed the growing dominance of the English
clubs in the European top flight. Critics though have been quick to
note that the top 6 EPL teams including both Manchester City and
United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham are pulling away
from the rest of the 20 teams, within their own league.
Millions have been spent to secure the best signings - the EPL
currently has the most expensive goal-keeper and most expensive
defender (interestingly England is ahead of the pack of other
European countries in player buying records at 15 of all record-
signings, compared to Italy’s 8 and Argentina’s 5).
The EPL introduced the Home-Grown Player rule as part of an
initiative to have the Premier League nurture talent from its own
shores rather than buy its way to expensive talents as noted above.
The hope is to offer a higher chance of the League producing better
quality of English and other British players.
The success of the “Three Lions” in 2018 may have finally started
bearing fruits to the EPL’s head honchos looking to have cracked
the nut. The same would be said of the clubs’ success with each of
the top and mid-table teams having a player or two representing the
country.
The clubs’ management and boards have pulled all stops to secure the
services of the top managers from across Europe. In recent times, the
English clubs have also sought to expand their infrastructure with
Tottenham opening a truly state-of-the-art edifice of a stadium. The
youth system in each of the clubs is bearing fruit as can be seen by
the budding talent that is the under-19 and under-21 English teams.
Brexit or Be-in?
Bullseye
Football Money League 2019
1
2019 Money League top 20 total revenue profile (€bn)
MAD
€750.9m
2 FCB €690.4m
3 MUN €666.0m
4 BAY €629.2m
5 MCI €568.4m
6 PSG €541.7m
7 LIV €513.7m
8 CHE €505.7m
9 ARS €439.2m
10 TOT €428.3m
11 JUV €394.9m
12 DOR €317.2m
13 ATM €304.4m
14 INT €280.8m
15 ROM €250.0m
16 SCH €243.8m
17 EVE €212.9m
18 MIL €207.7m
19 NEW €201.5m
20 WHU €197.9m
2017/18
Matchday
Broadcast
Commercial
Congratulations to Real
Madrid who are the highest
revenue-generating club in the
world for a record 12th time
and the first to record revenue
of three-quarters of a billion
Euros in one season.
€1bn
Real Madrid has pulled
away from domestic
rivals Barcelona (2nd)
and Money League arch-
rivals Manchester United
(3rd), finishing top by the
second widest margin in
Money League history.
€60.5m
€8.3bn
Total revenue of the top 20 Money League
clubs was a record €8.3bn, an increase of
6% from the previous year .
Spain
1st
England
3rd
Germany
4th
France
6th
Italy
11th
Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and
Juventus were the highest ranked clubs in each of the ‘big five’ leagues.
Participation in UEFA competitions remains a strong driver
of revenue growth with last season’s Champions League
finalists Real Madrid and Liverpool both climbing the Money
League table.
MBAPPÉ
7
NEYMAR JR
€8.3bn
Signing Neymar and Mbappé has had
a noticeable impact on Paris Saint-
Germain, with demand to watch these
marquee signings driving record
revenue through improved matchday
and commercial performance.
10
With Juventus falling to 11th
position in the Money League,
this is the first edition with
no Italian club in the top ten.
Will the impact of the signing
of Cristiano Ronaldo see them
return to the top ten in next
year’s edition?
The bigger battle now for the EPL is to ensure that this doesn’t
destabilize the League and bring disrepute to it. Immigration and
how to handle players coming from the other EU countries will
become imperative.
92 MAL30/19 ISSUE
€8.3bn
43%
The biggest test now for the EPL is how the English democracy
negotiates the Brexit process. Having cost two PMs their jobs, the
process seems to be claiming heavy political casualties. The economy
has also been shook as has been the country’s currency. It is subtly
permeating the sports scene albeit not with the pronouncements
that the politicos have been warping.
When Brexit happens, footballers from these countries may be
treated in the same way non-EU footballers are currently treated.
This means they will have to meet a certain criterion to obtain a
17%
40%
2008/09
£4.4m
A record six Premier League clubs feature in the
top ten of the Money League.
2017/18
£139.4m
There are 13 Premier
League clubs in the
Money League top 30,
with a debut for Brighton
& Hove Albion. In the
2008/09 season they
generated £4.4m and in
2017/18 it was £139.4m.