Packing in a European way: EU football clubs are looking for new sources of income
The revenue of top European football clubs increased significantly last season, adding 11% and reaching 12.4 billion euros. However, income indicators were unevenly distributed. The commercial component has been growing every year, while the share of income from television broadcasts has continued to fall for almost a decade. Clubs have to come up with more and more creative ways to increase revenue, which is not possible for everyone and only increases the already huge inequality. The new annual Football Money League report by the international audit group Deloitte was reviewed by Izvestia.
Television doesn't pull
According to Deloitte, revenues from matches (2.4 billion euros), television broadcasts (4.7 billion euros) and commercial activities (5.3 billion euros) reached record levels for the 20 richest clubs, with total commercial revenue exceeding 5 billion euros for the first time in history.
For the third year in a row, commercial revenues account for the largest share of the total revenue of Money League clubs, bringing in an average of 265 million euros (in 2025 — 244 million euros). The key growth factors were improved retail performance, increased sponsorship revenue, and the use of stadiums and surrounding areas on non-gaming days. The latter marks a significant shift in the business model. The clubs strive to maximize the exploitation of stadium assets through the diversification of entertainment services, including breweries, restaurants, hotels and similar services.
In fact, it doesn't come from a good life. Just five years ago, television was the main source of income for European football clubs. For example, in the 2018/19 season, a Deloitte top-20 club earned an average of 206 million euros in the box. Now this figure has reached 235 million euros. There seems to be growth, but do not forget that the euro inflation during this period was 25%, that is, in real terms, TV revenues decreased by almost 10%.
The total revenue from TV rights now accounts for 38% of the total revenue. Funds from TV broadcasts are especially important for clubs ranked 11-20. For them, they account for almost half of the revenue (49%), while for the top 10 - only a third. At the same time, the expanded FIFA Club World Cup became the main driver of the growth of broadcast revenues in the 2024/25 season. Ten Money League clubs participated in the tournament last summer, resulting in a 17 percent increase in their broadcast revenue. In addition, the expansion of the three main UEFA men's tournaments also contributed to the growth: UEFA's distributable funds increased to 3.3 billion euros in the 2024/25 season (an increase of about 22% compared to 2.7 billion euros in 2023/24). But the increase in the number of matches on the calendar creates certain problems for the health of players: in the 2024/25 season, clubs from the top 20 played an average of 57 official matches (in 2023/24 — 51 matches). In fact, if it weren't for the new tournament, with the TV money, the failure compared to five or six years ago would have been even more impressive.
The French in free swimming
There has been no growth in telecontracts in national championships for a long time. Sky's recent new agreement with the Premier League is only 4% more than the covid-19 deal (in terms of the season) and less than in 2016-2019. This is at face value (in real terms, a drop of 30%), and the number of broadcast matches has increased, meaning the league is literally "scratching its head."
The situation in continental football is even worse. In their domestic markets, the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1 have faced difficulties with the entry into force of new TV rights agreements in the 2024/25 season. The new Series A deals resulted in a 3% drop in the average cost of rights per season (excluding potential profit sharing payments). At the same time, the cost of new League 1 agreements turned out to be about 20% lower than the previous cycle. The subsequent termination of the contract with DAZN by mutual agreement led to the league launching its own direct-to-consumer D2C offering at the beginning of the 2025/26 season. This will negatively affect the revenues of French clubs in the short term, but it will make Ligue 1 the first major European league to implement the D2C model. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a long-term trend that others will follow.
As a result, commerce remains the only way to succeed. Teams that own their own stadiums (especially new ones or those that have recently been renovated) are in the most advantageous position, as they have great opportunities for monetization. And, of course, these markets are dominated by strong brands from large cities with a wide international fan base. If television money to some extent equalizes clubs from the same championship, then commercial income leads to their increasing stratification.
Billion-dollar "Real"
In general, the picture of the top 20 and the next ten has not changed much. Clubs from the top 5 European championships still dominate in terms of revenue. Only Benfica Lisbon, which is in 19th place, was an exception. Interestingly, although England has the most clubs in the top twenty (nine), only one of them (Liverpool) is among the top five richest in terms of income.
In the 2024/25 season, Real Madrid remained the only club with revenue exceeding 1 billion euros (for the second year in a row). Despite a 6% decrease in match revenue, the club reported a 23% increase in commercial revenue due to the sale of merchandising and new partners. For the first time since the 2019/20 season, Barcelona returned to the podium of the Money League (2nd place), earning 975 million euros. Despite playing in a temporary stadium, revenue increased by 27% compared to last year, thanks in part to one-time revenue of 70 million euros from the introduction of seat licenses in connection with the renovation of its Camp Nou home field. Bayern Munich (861 million euros) rounded out the top three, rising two positions thanks to increased broadcast revenue after participating in the 2025 Club World Cup. In fourth place was Paris Saint-Germain, which won last year's Champions League.
Real Madrid Football Club
For the first time in the history of Deloitte reviews, Liverpool became the most profitable English club (5th place, 836 million euros). The growth was driven by a return to the Champions League (+34% to TV rights) and an increase in commercial revenues (+7%) due to events at Anfield on non-playing days. But Manchester United dropped to 8th place — this is the lowest position of the Mancunians in the history of the rating. The revenue amounted to 793 million euros. Despite the growth in commercial and ticket revenues, the club lost 52 million euros in television sales due to weak tournament results.
It should be noted that Stuttgart returned to the rating after 15 years, whose revenue from matches increased by almost 90% (to 70 million euros) due to participation in the Champions League and the reconstruction of the stadium. There are 9 English clubs in the top twenty, three German, Italian and Spanish teams each, one Portuguese and one French — for the first time in three years. Marseille and Lyon left the rating due to the unsuccessful Ligue 1 TV contract and the termination of payments from the CVC Capital fund.
The expanded list of the top 30 includes almost all teams from Europe, with the exception of Brazilian Flamengo. The club from Rio de Janeiro ranks 29th, having earned more than 202 million euros at the end of the season. Despite the fact that clubs from Saudi Arabia and Inter Miami (MLS) are not yet members of the Money League, their growth poses a serious commercial challenge to Europe. The star lineups have increased the visibility of these leagues. For MLS, the key moment will be the 2026 World Cup, which could boost the potentially huge soccer fan market in the United States.
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