The main objective of major football clubs and governing bodies today is to maximize sources of income. A race for tickets which explains the summer tours to the four corners of the world, the winter training courses or the national cup matches relocated to the Middle East. All this without forgetting, for clubs that can, the renovation (Real Madrid, FC Barcelona) or the creation of a stadium (PSG?).
The dominant English
The Deloitte firm looked, as it does every year, at the main teams generating the most revenue. And for the 2021/2022 season, the 20 most spoiled clubs generated 9.2 billion euros in revenue, or 13% more compared to the 2020/2021 financial year. An increase mainly linked to the return of the public to the stadiums after the COVID years. Deloitte indicates in this sense that match revenues increased from €111 million in 20/21 to €1.4 billion in 21/22.
The pandemic, however, continues to leave its mark on some like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona who have still not equaled or exceeded the revenue generated before the pandemic (2018/2019 season, editor’s note), unlike Liverpool, Chelsea and PSG . The French club even exceeded its 18/19 revenue by €18 million. This ranking is dominated for the second year in a row by Manchester City. With €731 million in revenue, the reigning European champions signed an increase of 13% compared to the 20/21 financial year (€644.9 million). Of this €731 million, €373 million concerns the commercial part, €294 million for TV rights and €64 million for ticketing.
PSG star of the ticket office
Second in the ranking with €713.8 million in revenue, Real Madrid has therefore not yet regained its pre-COVID records (€751 million in 17/18, €757 million in 18/19), but its result is better than the previous one (+11%, €640.7 million). And this amount is likely to skyrocket once the new Bernabéu is fully operational. Scheduled to host events 365 days a year, the new setting will weigh heavily in the balance. Liverpool completes the weight with €701.7 million in revenue. The Reds have also made a big jump compared to recent years (€559 million in 19/20, 550 in 20/21), notably thanks to a large portion linked to TV rights (€314 million, or €20 million). more than Manchester City) and their ticketing (€112 million, or €48 million more than Cityzens).
In this top 20 outrageously dominated by the English (11 clubs present), a French team is putting up resistance. And even better than that. Fifth in the ranking with €654.2 million in revenue, Paris Saint-Germain is behind Manchester United (€688.6 million), but ahead of prestigious competitors such as Bayern Munich (€653.6 million), FC Barcelona (€638.2 million) or even Chelsea (€568.3 million). The Rouge et Bleu achieved their best performance (+18%) since the 2018/2019 season (€636 million). Parisian success can be explained by enormous commercial activity (€383 million) and exceptional ticketing (€132 million). PSG is also the club in this top 20 which generates the most revenue on match days. Be careful though, because you will have to monitor the publication in 2024 of the results recorded this season. Because a season without Lionel Messi or Neymar is not without consequences in terms of income…
