The UEFA on Friday released the 10th edition of its annual club licensing benchmarking report on European soccer clubs, "The European Club Footballing Landscape," which analyzes the financial situations of the leagues and clubs of the 2017 financial year.
According to the biennial report, England's Premier League led in revenue generation by earning over six billion U.S. dollars, almost twice that of second-place Spanish La Liga (3.3 billion). Germany's Bundesliga ranked third with 3.1 billion dollars while Italian Serie A trailed behind at 2.5 billion. Ligue 1 of France came last in the top five leagues with 1.6 billion dollars.
Premier League leads in total revenue, club revenue and club wages. /VCG Photo
Premier League leads in total revenue, club revenue and club wages. /VCG Photo
England dominated rankings of club revenue with five in the top 10 clubs, 10 in top 20 and 13 in top 30. Manchester United ranked No.1 with 770 million U.S. dollars, while Real Madrid hit second with only one million less. Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, PSG, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Juventus were No.3 to No.10, all of which made over 456 million dollars.
Easy come, easy go. While making the most money, English clubs also spent more than their counterparts. The total wages in the Premier League in 2017 was more than 3.3 billion dollars while La Liga and Bundesliga came second and third. England also had nine clubs that made it into the top 20 of player wages: Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Southampton.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) make the most money from their supporters. /VCG Photo
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) make the most money from their supporters. /VCG Photo
England lost its dominance when it came to details. For example, PSG of Ligue 1 replaced Arsenal as the club making the most money from their supporters with about 112.7 dollars on average per head. However, England still contributed five (Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Hotspur) in the category's top 10.
Borussia Dortmund of Bundesliga enjoyed the best average home attendance of 79,496. Bayern Munich (also a German club) were No 2. with 75,000 and Manchester United came in third with 74,976. Bundesliga also had the highest average league attendance of 44,511, better than Premier League's 38,310, La Liga's 27,068, Serie A's 24,706 and Ligue 1's 22,548.