Football left the hospital – Newspaper Kommersant No. 151 (7352) of 08/19/2022
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Deloitte has released its annual European football financials report. The authors of the study, which was based on data for the 2020/21 season, concluded that, despite continued coronavirus restrictions on spectator visits to stadiums, the European football industry showed good results. Thus, the industry’s total revenues amounted to €27.6 billion, which is 10% more than in the previous reporting period. However, the report should be treated with a certain amount of caution. The fact is that it takes into account the income received by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) from holding the European Championship last year. In addition, the statistics are strongly influenced by the results of the English Premier League (EPL). Without the impact of these factors, such a noticeable increase in income most likely would not have happened.
Deloitte’s annual report was released on Thursday (.pdf) on the financial situation of the European football industry. The current version of the document refers to the 2020/21 season. The information reflected in it indicates that the football industry of the continent suffered from the coronavirus restrictions introduced during the 2019/20 season much less than expected. Moreover, despite the fact that throughout the past season, the teams were still forced to put up with either the absence of spectators at the stadiums or the limitation of their number (this led to the fact that matchday receipts in many cases turned out to be purely formal, for example , for the Premier League they barely exceeded £ 30 million), the total income of the industry increased.
In total, they managed to earn €27.6 billion, which is still less than in the two reporting periods preceding the pandemic.
So, in the 2017/18 season, revenues amounted to €28.4 billion, and in the 2018/19 season – €28.9 billion. But at the same time, fresh figures are immediately 10% more than in the 2019/20 season.
However, if you pay attention to what financial flows formed such a good financial indicator, it turns out that it is based on the fact that it was in 2021 that the European Championship 2020, postponed for a year in the wake of the acute phase of the pandemic, took place. Deloitte calculated that the revenue generated by the European football industry through UEFA, national federations, and the International Football Federation (FIFA) amounted to €3.7 billion. In the 2019/20 season, this figure was only €1.9 billion.
If we leave out the income, the receipt of which is due to the holding of the continental championship, it turns out that the situation has not changed much.
Thus, the top division clubs of the Big Five countries (England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France) generated €15.6 billion in revenue compared to €15.1 billion a year earlier. Teams from the lower leagues of the same countries contributed €2.6 billion, the same amount as a year earlier. The top leagues of countries outside the “big five” raised €5.1 billion, up from €5 billion in the 2019/20 season. Finally, the lower divisions of these same countries generated another €600 million, remaining at the same level as in the previous reporting period.
At the same time, the Deloitte report notes that, for example, Premier League clubs during the reporting period managed to increase operating profit by almost an order of magnitude – from £49 million immediately to £479 million. After all, the Premier League has the most profitable contracts with broadcasters. For example, in the 2022-2025 cycle, they will bring about £11bn to the league. However, if you subtract the Premier League figures, it turns out that the “big five” generated not income, but losses, and big ones – they increased from €461m to €901m Yes, there are problems in the nuclear submarine itself. For example, the total debt of league clubs rose by 4% to £4.1bn. The ratio of spending on player salaries to club income remains high. The red line is 75%. So, in England the figure is 71%, in Spain – 74%, in Italy – 82%, in France – and at all 98%. In the safe zone, only the German Bundesliga – 65%.
However, the authors of the report are confident that, in general, the financial future of European football can be considered reliable. They predict that by the end of the current season, the Big Five leagues will be able to generate a record €18.6 billion, which will be due to both the return of viewers to the stands (unless, of course, another wave of covid restrictions occurs) and the growth of revenues from television contracts.
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