MADRID: Europe's richest football clubs have built a commercial engine that generates almost half their income, helping underpin an expanding financial elite whose membership has proved harder to change than its revenues, a study shows.
The report by consultancy Football Benchmark and World Football Summit charts two transformations: commercial income has displaced broadcasting as the leading revenue source for the highest earners, while growth across European football has failed to narrow the financial divide.
Commercial and other income accounted for 49% of operating revenue at the 10 highest-earning clubs in 2024/25, compared with 32% in 2008/09. Broadcasting, including UEFA distributions, fell from 42% to 32%, and stadium and matchday income from 27% to 19%.
Those are declining shares of a much larger business, not evidence of falling receipts. The top 10's combined operating revenue more than tripled over those 16 years, from 2.7 billion euros to 8.4 billion.
The shift came in two stages.
Commercial income overtook broadcasting in the early 2010s. Up to 2018/19, its gains came largely at the expense of matchday income, whose share fell to 16%, while broadcasting’s slipped only to 40%. The report says that phase coincided with the digitalisation and internationalisation of football through social media and new digital platforms.
Since the pandemic, broadcasting has given ground instead, its share falling from 38% in 2021/22 to 32% in 2024/25, while matchday income has recovered. The commercial category includes other income and should not be read as sponsorship alone.
Growth without convergence
The study draws on UEFA financial reports, Deloitte's Football Money League and Football Benchmark's own data.
Football Benchmark provides consultancy services and data analysis to clubs, leagues, governing bodies and investors on the business of football.
World Football Summit organises industry events and initiatives that bring football executives and other businesses together to develop partnerships and commercial opportunities.
Across Europe's 700 top-division clubs, operating revenue increased from 11.6 billion euros in 2008/09 to 28.6 billion in 2023/24. The report estimates it exceeded 30 billion for the first time in 2024/25.
More clubs have crossed previously exceptional revenue thresholds. Thirty-three generated over 200 million euros in 2024/25, against eight in 2008/09, while the number exceeding 300 million rose from three to 17.
The distribution has shifted towards England. Premier League clubs generated 26% of European top-flight revenue in 2023/24, up from 21% in 2008/09.
Six English clubs featured among the top 10 earners in 2024/25, compared with four at the start of the period. Italy went from three representatives to none.
The report says the biggest clubs have widened their financial advantage over the rest in absolute terms, even as the wider industry has grown.
“The growth is not homogeneous. The richest clubs become richer at a faster pace than the others,” Antonio Di Cianni, Football Benchmark’s director of advisory, told Reuters.
“Thanks to their global fan base, these clubs have become media powerhouses. Nowadays, we couldn’t consider them simple football clubs anymore.”
Di Cianni also points to the new format of the Champions League, which grew the most in revenue among UEFA’s club competitions, deepening that concentration because the biggest domestic clubs were more likely to take part.
“It becomes a virtuous or vicious cycle depending on the perspective. The higher revenues these clubs generate, the better squads they are able to assemble, the better results on the pitch they get,” he said.
Television still counts
Commercial and other revenue was also the fastest-growing main income stream across European top-flight football between 2014/15 and 2023/24, increasing at a compound annual rate of 7% to 12.6 billion euros.
Multi-year agreements helped make it the most resilient stream during the pandemic, the report said.
Broadcasting nevertheless remains particularly important for smaller and mid-sized clubs. Domestic broadcasting receipts rose from 5.8 billion euros to 8.5 billion over that period, while Uefa distributions roughly doubled to 3.2 billion.
Matchday revenue recovered from 500 million euros in 2020/21 to 4.4 billion in 2023/24, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
Rising income has accompanied record valuations, but little turnover at the top.
Football Benchmark put the combined enterprise value of Europe's 32 most valuable clubs at 72.6 billion euros in 2026, nearly three times the 2016 figure.
Only 11 clubs appeared among the 10 most valuable over that decade — a measure of how durable football's financial hierarchy has become despite the scale of its expansion.