The collapse of the revenues of football clubs in the year of Covid

by time news

Time.news – The Covid-19 pandemic will cost over 2 billion euros in revenues by the end of the 2020/21 season to the top 20 clubs by turnover in world football. This is the estimate contained in the 24th edition of the Football Money League, published by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.

The report analyzes the revenue trend of the main world football clubs in an economic and social context strongly conditioned by the crisis triggered by the coronavirus.

The numbers of the top 20

The top 20 clubs generated a total of 8.2 billion in revenues, down 12% from the 2018/19 season. A contraction of 1.1 billion mainly due to:

  • a reduction of 937 million euros (-23%) in revenues from television rights, due to the deferral of revenues and discounts granted to broadcasters;
  • a drop of 257 million (-17%) in stadium revenues;
  • only partially offset by an increase in commercial revenues of 105 million euros (+ 3%).

The average turnover generated by the top 20 clubs in the ranking amounts to 409 million euros in 2019/20, marking a decrease of 12% compared to 2018/19. Discounts to broadcasters on “big five” leagues (Premier League, Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1) and Uefa competitions, reportedly amount to about 1.2 billion euros, of which a large part is borne by the clubs .

Matchday revenues from March 2020 are likely to be close to zero, as it now seems unlikely that a significant number of fans will return to the stadium during the 2020/21 season.

The return of the fans to the stadium is a priority

“In conclusion – comments Deloitte – no football team was immune to the impact of Covid-19, but the Money League clubs had the greatest financial impact in absolute terms”.

According to Deloitte, “the safe return of fans to stadiums is a top priority in global football, given that matchday-related activities represent a fundamental element of the club’s business model, enabling additional sources of revenue. The size of the global financial impact of the pandemic on the football industry will therefore largely depend on the return of fans to the stadium. “

Records before Covid

In the 2018/19 season, the latest pre-Covid, the European football market had generated revenues of € 28.9 billion, as emerges from the Annual Review of Football Finance 2020 drawn up by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.

Growth was driven by the “big five” of the European championships, which benefited from an additional 700 million euros distributed by UEFA. In detail, the “big five” of the European championships generated a record turnover of 17 billion euros in the 2018/19 season, with an increase of 9% compared to the previous year.

Aggregate operating profits amounted to € 1.4 billion, an increase of 7% over the previous year. Premier League club revenues rose to over € 5.9 billion, an increase of 7%, driven by the growth of UEFA distributions to English clubs.

The clubs in the Spanish La Liga generated total revenue of € 3.4 billion, the second highest overall growth among the “big five” leagues, surpassing the Bundesliga (€ 3.3 billion) in terms of revenue. Finally, in Serie A (€ 2.5 billion) and Ligue 1 (€ 1.9 billion), there was a strong growth in revenues, with increases of 11% and 12% respectively.

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