As the Uefa Euro 2024 football tournament ends and European teams kick off their season next month, how has European football fared financially?
According to Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance 2024, published in June, the European football market grew by 16% in the 2022/23 season to €35.3bn, boosted by the lifting of all remaining Covid-19 restrictions and the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
The top European leagues – England’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s LaLiga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1 – continued to proportionately lead the way, contributing €19.6 billion (56%).
The ‘big five’ saw revenue growth of 14% to total €19.6bn, up €2.3bn on the previous season. Clubs’ aggregate revenue is forecast to continue growing, reaching around €21 billion in 2024/25. England’s Premier League is once again expected to widen the revenue gap to its closest competitor.
Aggregate matchday revenue for all five leagues improved, growing by €0.7 billion (35%) to €2.8 billion (averaging 14% of clubs’ total revenue).
Commercial revenue grew by €1.2 billion (19%) to €7.6 billion, driven by new and improved sponsorship deals as well as utilisation of stadia beyond matchdays.
And broadcast revenue for clubs topped €9.2 billion.
Wage costs were €13bn with England’s Premier League club wages dominating, but the report noted that the average wages/revenue ratio fell across all leagues as the increase in aggregate revenue exceeded the clubs’ increased wage costs.
More information
Read Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance 2024.
Read our article on the finances of the Euro 2024 tournament.
