SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Financial auditing and consulting firm Deloitte have revealed a pre-tax profit of £190 million for English Premier League (EPL) football clubs in 2013-14, marking its first collective profit in fifteen years.
New cost control measures and refined corporate strategies have been highlighted as the drivers for the earnings boost by Deloitte. The combined £190 million earnings are four times higher than the previous record of £49 million set in the 1997-98 season. Prior to 2013-14, EPL clubs had accumulated pre-tax losses of £2.6 billion over the past decade.
Deloitte notes that the figures taken from EPL clubs do not reflect current debt burdens carried by EPL clubs.
Figures taken from EPL accounts record that Premier League revenues rose 29% in 2013-14 from £2.5 to £3.3 billion. EPL clubs were able to record savings as players wages, its biggest expenditure grew by less than expected from £1.8 to £1.9 billion.
Dan Jones, Partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte commented on the results
“Over the previous 10 seasons wages grew by around 9% per year, which is higher than the average annual revenue growth of 7% over that period, demonstrating further what a remarkable turnaround the 2013-14 figures represent.”
Deloitte notes that the spending curve on wager by EPL clubs, could reflect that the new rules set by UEFA and the Premier League with regards to overspending could be taking effect on club management and strategy.
“The introduction of cost control regulations at both a European and domestic level has caused many clubs to watch their spending more closely than ever before and created a useful tool for clubs to reduce the inflationary pressures during negotiations with players and agents,” Commented Adam Bull, Senior Consultant at Deloitte Sports.
The news of its combined earnings will prove a boost for EPL clubs, following the announcement of its new £5.2 billion Premier League TV rights deal With BT and Sky Sports which will be introduced from 2016.
With regards to the new TV rights deal Deloitte states that the broadcast deal combined with international broadcast EPL revenue streams could bring in as much as £8.5 billion in revenues, once international TV rights sales are factored in.
Deloitte notes that although the EPL is the highest revenue generating league, the impact of its revenues do not reflect success on the pitch success or best value pricing for its fans. EPL clubs have suffered in performance in European football competition losing ground to Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga football clubs.
Since 2011 the average price of match day tickets has risen by 13%, EPL club season ticket prices have risen three times the rate of UK inflation with the most expensive season ticket pricing held by Arsenal Football club at £2,013
