"Premier League clubs posted record revenues of £3.6bn in 2015-16, but still struggled to make a profit. The 20 top-flight English teams made a pre-tax loss of £110m, after two consecutive seasons in the black, according to figures from Deloitte. Clubs saw increased player expenditure, operating costs and one-off charges. The two Manchester clubs' revenues increased by a total of £160m - roughly half of the total revenue growth recorded by the Premier League clubs. "The 2015-16 season saw Premier League clubs grow revenues by almost 10% ... with the two Manchester clubs alone responsible for more than 50% of the increase," said Dan Jones, head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte." Also reported a 38% increase in agents fees!!
The thing is, are football clubs there to make a profit in money? Are they there to make a profit in dreams, excitement, thrills, memories etc? Sure, you have to remain a going concern, but for the fan and maybe the owner too, the real profit comes in other ways surely.
All this years premier teams will be in the top 30 wealthiest clubs in the world when published by deloittes next year; simply as a consequence of sky/bt money. It's clearly the hyper inflated wages and transfer fees these clubs pay that impact massively on any profit. Paying more because they've got more. Their performances in europe over the last few years would suggest that their players are not worth the expense. I would guess that collectively the leicester team who lost to atletico are earning much more than them, despite being much less capable.
Football clubs shouldn't need to make a profit. Any surplus should be reinvested or even given back to the supporters through reduced admission.
It's not the profit bit that concerns and annoys me but the fact that most lose money in spite of the fact that football has deserted its traditional fanbase of joe public in favour of massive payouts from Sky and Corporate sales. They have priced many people out of attending matches and at the end of the day it is full stadia and the atmosphere that generates that makes it the spectacle it is as much as what goes on on the pitch. The ever increasing spiral of player wages and agents fees has, nevertheless, failed to bring about it's demise as predicted every year. However, it is clear that as the gap between league and premier league widens, the game as we know it, will at some point change for the worse. For most it has already given that the financial structure is so uneven. This has been demonstrated in Formula 1 with the biggest corporate teams, notably Ferrari, getting more money just for turning uo than smaller teams would get even if they won the Constructors Championship. Several Teams have gone to the wall in recent times because of this in spite of the fact it is a very rich sport the costs and overheads have spiralled out of control. It WILL happen inEnglish football at some point and reflects the UK economy that, whilst generating wealth is a) spending way beyond its means and b) that wealth is unevenly distributed amongst a small number of people and organisations
I agree 100%. Never going to happen whilst owners see the clubs as investments and are looking for a return on the investment. Anyone who thinks that the premier league big boys are run for the fans is misguided I'm afraid.
