Premier League enhances status as football’s richest league

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International accountancy Deloitte & Touche published its Annual Review of English Football Finance. According to the report, the 20 top-tier Premiership teams together generated revenue of £1.3bn in fiscal 2004, 6 percent more than in 2003. Italy's Serie A was second with sales of €1.153bn.

Revenue from television contracts and match-day sales rose 9 percent in the period as fans shelled out to watch a league whose top players include England striker Wayne Rooney and France forward Thierry Henry.

The report highlights the concerns of European ruling body UEFA, which in February changed player eligibility for the 2006/7 Champions League to give poorer teams a better chance of competing.

Operating profit at English clubs averaged £7.5m in the period. The German Bundesliga was the only other of the top five leagues to be in profit as teams such as Schalke 04 countered a 5 percent decline in broadcast revenue by cutting wages 2 percent. Even after reducing the payroll by 4 percent, the operating losses of Serie A teams totaled €341m, making a cumulative deficit of €1.5bn since 1996. Lazio, one of Italy's three publicly traded clubs, may be taken private after it overhauls its finances.

The 2003/4 season was the Premiership's last under a three- year £1.11bn contract with British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc. Payments were weighted toward the final year of the agreement, Deloitte said, contributing to total broadcast income for Premiership teams of €593m. Deloitte said there would be a “small fall'' in TV income this year, the first of BSkyB's new deal, which is worth £1.02bn for three seasons through 2007. This will be offset by improved cost control in a country where 28 clubs in the top four professional divisions have sought creditor protection since 1997, Deloitte said.

Excluding champion Chelsea, which has spent more than £250m on players since Abramovich bought the club two years ago, Premiership players' wages declined for the first time since the league's inception in 1992. Including Chelsea, they rose 7 percent to £800m, the highest in the world, Deloitte reported.

Chelsea reported a net loss of £87.8m in fiscal 2004. “Clubs have had success in reining back costs, particularly wages,'' Dan Jones, a partner at Deloitte's Sports Business Group said. While there will be “lower domestic broadcast revenues, many clubs have been successful in increasing match-day and commercial revenues to compensate.''

Manchester United, which Glazer took control of last month, had match-day revenue of €92m through 2004. Real Madrid, Spain's richest and most successful team, made €62m and Italy's A.C. Milan earned €28m.

Premiership matches had an average attendance of more than 35,000 during the 2003/4 season and venues were 94.7 percent full on average. Bolton's Reebok stadium is one of several grounds seeking to reduce its reliance on football, its featured concerts by artists including Elton John.