Changing Of The Guards; Manchester City Tops Deloitte Money League.
Current Premier League champions, Manchester City, have topped Deloitte’s ‘Football Money League’ report for the 2020/21 season.
Manchester City moved up 6 places this season, earning a revenue of €644.9 million (AUD $945.47 million).
However previous title holder, FC Barcelona, earned a revenue of only €583.1 million (AUD $854.7 million) causing the club to fall to fourth place on the ladder; it’s lowest point since the 2013/14 season.
Real Madrid’s revenue of €640.7 million (AUD $939.37 million) saw the club remain in second position on the ladder, while Bayern Munich also held 3rd position generating a revenue of €611.4 million (AUD $897.73 million).
Manchester fell form 4th to 5th position with a revenue of €558 million (AUD $819.3 million).
The list contained the highest proportion of Premier League clubs ever, with eleven of the top 20 clubs in Deloitte’s money league report belonging to the league.
Overall, the effects of a Covid-19 stricken season saw the club’s collective revenue fall 11% in comparison to the 2018/2019 season.
The report stated ‘Money League Clubs’ have missed out on over €2 billion (AUD $2.9 billion) over the 2019/20 and 2021/21 seasons, as a result of the pandemic.
According to Deloitte, the weighting of different revenue streams are also changing as the seasons progress.
With the 2020/21 season played almost completely without in-stadium audiences, the matchday revenue stream contributed only 1% towards the club’s revenue.
Prior to the pandemic, matchday revenues contributed around 16% of the ‘Money League Clubs’ total revenue.
“The impact of COVID-19 is stark with the lack of fans in stadia unsurprisingly causing the lowest matchday revenue in the 25 years of the publication,” the report said.
Broadcast and commercial revenue streams’ have increased with both respectively generating 56% and 43% of the season’s revenue.
The report predicted the 2021/22 season’s re-alignment with the financial year will likely reduce broadcast revenue, however the commencement of the new rights cycle for UEFA club competitions will partially offset this reduction.
Premier League broadcast rights values are likely to pull away from other big 5 European leagues, due to the rollover of pre-existing domestic arrangements and the expected increase in international broadcasting rights value.
An increase in international broadcasting rights paired with European leagues continuing their pre-existing deals, will see broadcasters turn to securing international rights due to the stagnancy of domestic broadcasting competition.
