The richest clubs have a new winner after the pandemic

Due to the coronavirus, football clubs had to play almost an entire season without spectators for the second time. Their matchday revenues made up less than one percent of their total income. Despite grim forecasts, the football giants managed to stop the financial freefall caused by the pandemic. According to the latest Football Money League (FML) rankings by Deloitte, the top 20 teams earned a total of €8.178 billion in the 2020/21 season — €16 million more than the season before. “Football has once again shown its immense strength as an industry,” said sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos. The data is based on club financial reports for the fiscal year ending in June 2021.

Big clubs quickly recovered from the hard blows dealt by COVID-19. After the outbreak, between the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, clubs in the FML suffered a record — and still the only — revenue drop in the ranking’s history, with earnings falling by more than €1.1 billion. It’s often said that crises present opportunities for growth, and English champion Manchester City proved that perfectly. In the 25-year history of the FML, City became only the fourth club ever to take first place, joining the ranks of Manchester United, Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona. Owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group since 2008, City earned €644.9 million last season, jumping five spots in the rankings. “Compared to the previous season, they had a 17% revenue increase, which is an incredibly positive result given the pandemic,” Tokos said.

The current Premier League leader maximized its revenue from television rights distribution. In England, those are allocated based on two factors: final league position and number of televised matches. Manchester City led in both categories. This boosted their TV income from €217 million to €335.9 million. “The club’s management must be working flawlessly — from the leadership to coach Pep Guardiola and all departments. They made the right strategic decisions and rightfully top the rankings,” Tokos commented. The club barely felt the absence of fans at the Etihad Stadium, as matchday income amounted to just €800,000 compared to €48 million in 2019/20.

Only four of the top ten FML clubs increased their revenue year-over-year: Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, and Juventus. Clearly, not all clubs managed to cope with the losses caused by the pandemic or poor management decisions. FC Barcelona was hit hardest. The Catalan giant — winner of the 2020 and 2021 FML rankings — saw revenue drop by more than €130 million, falling from first to fourth place. “Their crisis peaked last summer, when the club admitted to massive debt. On top of that, they made poor transfer market decisions, and their financial performance stands in stark contrast to the four clubs that grew,” Tokos said.

Due to their debts, La Liga penalized the club, preventing them from signing new players or renewing contracts — a major reason why club legend Lionel Messi had to leave, tearfully saying goodbye to Camp Nou. Barcelona is arguably the biggest financial victim of the COVID crisis among football’s elite clubs. Across two seasons, their revenue dropped by over a quarter of a billion euros. In this case, the lack of fans had a major impact. In the pre-pandemic 2018/19 season, ticket sales brought in nearly €127 million, but in the following season, that figure dropped to just over €15 million.

“Outside of the English Premier League, it’s especially difficult for clubs to survive without matchday revenue. Unlike in England, they can’t rely on huge TV rights income,” Tokos explained. However, just as Barcelona lost over €100 million in ticket sales, they are now earning it back as fans return. According to Tokos, it’s likely the club will once again challenge for the top spot in the Football Money League within one to two years. (...)