Man United now Europe’s biggest earners
A 32 per cent increase propelled them above Real Madrid and Barcelona
Manchester United enjoyed the biggest revenue of any European club in the last financial year after a 32 per cent increase propelled them above Real Madrid and Barcelona, Uefa said in an annual report published on Tuesday.
The European Club Football Landscape report said revenues among Europe’s 700-odd topflight clubs totalled €18.5 billion (Dh83.1 billion) for 2016, compared to €16.9 billion the year before and €2.8 billion in 1996.
However, the report acknowledged that nearly half that amount — €9.1 billion — was generated by 30 clubs and that the financial gap between the elite ones and the rest was increasing.
English Premier League television revenues were now such that mid-table Bournemouth earned the same as three-time European champions Inter Milan.
United’s revenue for 2016 was €689 million, compared to €521 million in 2015, the report said.
United were followed by Barcelona and Real Madrid (both €620 million), Bayern Munich (€592 million), Paris St-Germain (€542 million) and Manchester City €533 million).
United’s operating profit of €232 million was also the highest followed by Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and City.
United was also burdened with the highest net debt of €561 million, ahead of Benfica, Inter Milan, Juventus and Liverpool.
The report confirmed that the English Premier League enjoys by far the highest revenues in Europe, averaging €244.4 million per club.
Next was Germany’s Bundesliga with €149.6 million per club followed by Spain (€126.3 million) and Italy (€100.2 million). Revenues fell dramatically elsewhere, even in traditional football nations such as the Netherlands (€26.7 million) and Portugal (€20.3 million).
Polarisation
“Once more, we cannot help but note that the polarisation of commercial and sponsorship revenues between the top tier of clubs and the rest is accelerating,” Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin said.
“As the guardians of the game, Uefa must ensure that football remains competitive even as financial gaps are augmented by globalisation and technological change.”
Uefa analyst Sefton Perry said that “only a limited number of clubs are able to fully exploit the enormous commercial opportunities offered by the global market”.
Sixteen of the top 20 clubs in terms of domestic broadcast revenues were English with Manchester United top on €146 million, edging out Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Bournemouth earned €99 million, level with Inter Milan who, along with Juventus, were the only Serie A side in the top 20.