Welcome to the 24th edition of the Deloitte Football Money League, our most challenging to produce to date. Whilst it continues to profile the highest revenue generating clubs in world football and remains the most contemporary and reliable independent analysis of the clubs’ relative financial performance, it also reflects the implications of the unprecedented disrupted 2019/20 season and we have remained cognisant of the impact of COVID-19 throughout this publication.Introductionending in 2020 reflecting the majority of the 2019/20 season. As a result, assessing the comparability and relative performance between clubs in this year’s Money League is uniquely challenging this time around.
In this edition, whilst we have published the Money League rankings as usual, we have also sought to highlight where clubs’ revenues were specifically impacted and where this may well have, in a more normal year, meant revenues (and hence rankings) were different. We also consider the effects of COVID-19 on clubs’ operations and business models, provide insight into the changing strategic priorities of clubs and explore the collective and individual actions taken by stakeholders to adapt during the global pandemic.For Once in My LifeThere are a number of metrics, both financial and non-financial, that can be used to compare clubs, including attendances, worldwide fan base, social media following and on-pitch performance.
In the Money League we record clubs’ ability to generate revenue from matchday (including ticket and corporate hospitality sales), broadcast rights (including distributions from participation in domestic leagues, cups and UEFA club competitions) and commercial sources (e.g. sponsorship, merchandising, stadium tours and other commercial operations).This year, as in previous years, the financial information in this publication is from the annual financial statements of clubs or sourced directly from clubs.
The unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to some different accounting treatments between clubs for the financial year ending in 2020. Throughout this introduction, and within individual club pages, we will provide guidance on how one can interpret the financial information, highlighting potential areas of inconsistency as well as helping to understand the comparability of revenue across the Money League.
We Didn’t KnowWhen analysing the financial information in this publication it is important to understand that clubs typically have a financial year covering the entirety of domestic and international club competition seasons (as scheduled prior to COVID-19). For most European clubs, this is typically a financial year to May or June, meaning that one season’s worth of matchday, broadcast and commercial revenue would be captured in each financial year, allowing comparability between clubs across multiple seasons. Clearly, this is challenging for the 2019/20 season as a result of the varying decisions made by leagues in respect of the season and the differing accounting treatments adopted by clubs referred to above.
As the potential effects of COVID-19 became clearer in the first quarter of 2020, causing global economic and social disruption, professional football was no exception. Governments around the world responded to the pandemic in different ways at different speeds and to varying degrees, including enforcing national lockdowns, closing sports venues and stadia, and on the whole, at least initially, prohibiting sporting events.
As professional sport made a return, extended restrictions on mass gatherings and non-essential travel also meant that fans could not attend matches even when they were permitted to take place and many of these restrictions remain in place or have been reintroduced in the early stages of 2021 having previously been eased later in 2020.Leagues across the world had different ways of adapting to the challenges faced.
Many opted to postpone matches until they could take place under safer conditions, some were terminated (with final standings determined using different methodologies) and others annulled entirely. Each outcome had ramifications with broadcast and commercial partners alike, many of which sought rebates on rights fees for the changes to the delivery of the on-pitch product. The outcome pursued by the respective leagues and the reaction of their broadcast and commercial partners, therefore, had a significant impact on clubs, not least on revenue generated (and hence recognised) in the financial year
