Premier League football clubs saw revenues reach record highs last season, but still recorded some of the biggest losses in their history.
Revenues reach £3.6 billion in 2015-16 season, with the two Manchester clubs’ revenues alone increasing by a total of £160 million. However, according to figures from Deloitte, the 20 Premier League English teams still made a pre-tax loss of £110 million.
Balance books were hit by increased player expenditure, operating costs and one-off charges, with the report noting that wage costs increased by 12 percent to £2.3 billion over the period.
Dan Jones, head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said:
“Manchester United’s participation in the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League, coupled with continued strong commercial revenue growth, resulted in a 30 percent increase in revenue to 515m pounds. This saw them top the Deloitte Football Money League for the first time since 2003-04, as the world’s highest revenue-generating club,” Jones said.
“Increased distributions to clubs competing in Europe, under the new UEFA broadcast rights cycle – notably Manchester City, who reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League – also contributed to Premier League clubs’ revenue growth,” he added.
18 of the 20 clubs made a operating profit, with just 12 clubs making a pre-tax profit. Overall revenues are set to rise going into the next season, with a new television deal with Sky and BT worth a record £5.136 billion for live Premier League TV rights over three seasons.
