Leading European football clubs experienced a banner season this past year, according to data released by SportingPost.com. The site presented numbers showing that the top 20 European football clubs earned €9.2B in revenue during the 2021/22 season. That’s an impressive 13% increase compared to the €8.2B generated in the 2020/21 window.
SportingPost’s CEO, Freddie Smith, attributes that revenue surge to several factors, one of which is the return of football fans to stadiums. He explained that matchday revenue bulged to €1.4B compared to the €111M that the clubs received in 2020/21. That’s because fans were finally able to return after COVID-enforced absences.
Smith insists:
The return of fans to stadiums was a huge boost for clubs and matchday revenue. We saw more and more fans attending matches, which translated into increased spending on matchday tickets, merchandise, and food and drinks on match days.
SportingPost CEO, Freddie Smith
The 20 clubs also benefited from an 8% rise in their commercial revenues. These jumped from €3.5B to €3.8B, buoyed by English Premier League (EPL) clubs riding on a stronger pound.
English Teams Dominate Revenue Earnings Lists
A look at the best 10 revenue-earning male teams shows the domination of English sides. The same is true of the women’s game, with English teams taking 11 of the top 20 positions.
Manchester City led the field when it comes to club earnings, raking in an eye-watering €731M. That’s a leap of €120M from their 2020/21 season income and marks the second time City has topped the Money League.
The club’s fast rise is mainly due to its incredible commercial development, which has seen its revenue soar from €65M to an impressive €373M.
Real Madrid ended up second with a little over €713M in income – missing their 2018/19 high by €43M. Liverpool came in a close third with €702M, nearly 100M higher than their pre-pandemic figures show. Just one notch below them is Manchester United, who overcame PSG’s revenue of €654M to squeeze into fourth place with €688M.
Besides those mentioned above, the London trio of Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal complete a sextet of EPL teams that made the cut. The blues took the eighth spot with €568M, followed by the Spurs, who earned €523M, while the Gunners came in tenth with revenues of €433M.
Liverpool’s and Barcelona’s Contrasting Fortunes
Liverpool made the most significant leap in positions compared to the 2020/2021 rankings. The Reds moved from 7th to 3rd on the log, boosted by its appearance in the UEFA Champions League final (UCL). Again they were among the five teams to record matchday revenues exceeding €100M.
On the flip side, Barcelona had the biggest plunge. The Catalan side fell from the 4th to the 7th position after netting €638M. That figure represents a deficit of over €200M from its pre-pandemic returns. A 13% fall in TV revenues and the Blaugrana’s poor showing in Europe contributed significantly to this state.
The Spanish giants have, in the meantime, instituted measures they hope will shore up their earnings. These include signing a new sponsorship deal with Spotify and issuing naming rites to its Camp Nou stadium. It will be interesting to see how this affects their standing come the end of the season.
