Premier League generates record-breaking income, ahead of Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1
Thursday 16 April 2020 16:08, UK
The Premier League generates more revenue than any other league in Europe - but which leagues are growing fastest?
The big five European leagues grew their financial muscle by six per cent in 2017/18 with revenues totalling £13.7bn, according to Deloitte.
Broken down by country, the Premier League leads the way by a distance with a value of £4.8bn, ahead of the Bundesliga (£2.8bn), La Liga (£2.7bn), Serie A (£2bn) and Ligue 1 (£1.5bn).
But England's top-flight clubs have shelled out £2.8bn of that revenue in wages - although that 59 per cent ratio is still only bettered by the Bundesliga (53 per cent).
At the other end of the scale, Ligue 1 wage bills hit £1.1bn, amounting to 75 per cent of their overall revenue - with Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille and Monaco primarily racking up the league's additional cost.
The Premier League also ranked top among the big leagues for stadium attendance in 2018/19, filling 96 per cent of seats, ahead of the Bundesliga (90 per cent), Ligue 1 (72 per cent), La Liga (70 per cent) and Serie A (59 per cent).
Of all 20 Premier League clubs, the three promoted clubs saw the greatest increases in average attendance: Cardiff (+56 per cent), Fulham (+18 per cent) and Wolves (+10 per cent).
Dan Jones, head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte claims European football is in the "strongest financial position that we've ever seen".
"This reflects the drive among leading clubs to generate ever-greater revenues to fund success on the pitch and also the sustained efforts of UEFA to improve profitability and sustainability of clubs through Financial Fair Play and club licensing."
