Pl Loses Status As Most Profitable League

The Premier League lost its status as the most profitable football league in the world for the second time in three years to the Bundesliga according to the latest Annual Review of Football Finance from the Sport Business Group at Deloitte.

Debt in the Premier League has risen slightly to £3.3 billion, but around 40% of this (£1.4 billion) is in the form of non-interest bearing ‘soft loans’.

However, Premier League clubs’ revenue reached a record £1,981m in 2008/09 and will have exceeded £2 billion in the 2009/10 season.

The new broadcast contracts will also drive a further increase in revenues to £2.2 billion in 2010/11. 

In total, the Top 92 English clubs’ saw revenues increase by £100m to over £2.5 billion in the 2008/09 season.

But concern over player wages has risen again with Premier League clubs spending 67% of their revenues, or £1.3bn, on player wages during season 2008/09.

Chelsea again topped the wages bill, at £167m, while Manchester City’s wage bill soared from £54m to £83m.

Gross transfer spending by Premier League clubs also increased from £664m in 2007/08 to a record £713m in 2008/09.

It was also good news for the Football League Championship clubs as they also continued to grow their revenues, by 12% to £375m, in 2008/09.

The total European football market grew to a record £13.4 billion in 2008/09.