TThe European football market grew 7% to €29.5 billion over the 2021/22 season, due to record matchday and commercial revenues.
Led by the ‘big five’ leagues, the improvement of financial performance across all European leagues resulted in a 7% growth in revenue terms of the European football market (albeit the previous year was impacted by the pandemic).
The ‘big five’ European leagues generated record aggregate revenues of €17.2 billion, outperforming the pre-pandemic benchmark of €17 billion set in 2018/19, driven by €815m growth in commercial revenues across that period.
The Premier League continued to entrench itself as the market leader, with growth in the English top-tier outpacing the rest of Europe’s ’big five’ leagues, as both matchday and commercial revenues reached an all-time high. The Premier League reported a 12% rise in overall revenues in the 2021/22 season, culminating in a record aggregate revenue of £5.5 billion.
As polarisation is a growing challenge, there are increasing calls to seek ways to promote strong competitions to help protect and build fan interest and value for clubs, leagues and governing bodies alike. And the introduction of new regulations across England and Europe are more appropriately timed than ever due to the challenge of emerging leagues.
A plethora of organisations around the world are now invested in the success of clubs and leagues both on and off the pitch and the result is that a balancing act is required as investors, owners and governments all seek success. Whatever that success looks like, it is critical to remember that financial sustainability will underpin arguably Europe’s largest cultural property.