English Barclay Championship is perceived by fans, commentators and academics of football of being highly competitive and non-polarized, dominated by Manchester United, Chelsea and lately by Manchester City, with a significant number of other teams participating in the leagues. Out of the top 20 clubs having highest revenue in the year 2011/12, 7 of them are playing their traits in English Premier League.
There are a number of financial and non-financial methods that can be used to determine a club’s brand equity – including measures of attendance, fan-base, broadcast audience, or on-pitch success. Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are the 7 English premier league teams that are in the top 20 list in the list of ability to generate revenue from day to day football operations.
2011/12 represented a solid year in terms of revenue growth for the game’s elite clubs, with the top 20 League Clubs generating over $6.1 billion in 2011/12, a 10% increase on the previous year. Double digit percentage revenue growth in 2011/12 represents continued remarkably strong performance in these tough economic times. The sport’s top 20 revenue generating clubs now contribute over a quarter of the total revenues of the European football market and can be expected to generate close to $6.7 billion between them in 2012/13.
Top Three:
1. Real Madrid:
Real Madrid tops the League rankings, matching the eight year hegemony that Manchester United enjoyed between 1996/97 and 2003/04, and is the first club to surpass the €500m revenue in a single year. Real has undoubtedly led the way in the phenomenal level of revenue growth enjoyed by the sport’s top clubs over the past two decades.
2. Barcelona:
FC Barcelona retain second place, maintaining a Spanish one-two in this position for the fourth successive year, whilst the top six clubs remain unchanged for a fifth successive year, emphasizing the fact that these clubs have some of the largest fan-bases and hence strongest revenues, in both domestic and international markets.
3. Manchester United:
Manchester United retain third place despite revenues declining by £11.1m (3%) to £320.3m in a season which saw the club narrowly miss out on retaining their Premier League title as well as suffer early exits from the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup.
Other English Premier Clubs:
1. Chelsea:
Chelsea is placed at fifth position, with total revenue in 2011/12 increasing by £32.4m (14%) to £261m. This significant growth is largely down to the on-field successes of the season. 2011/12 will be remembered as the year Chelsea became the first London club to win the UEFA Champions League, overcoming Barcelona in the semi-finals and then defeating Bayern Munich in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the final at the Allianz Arena. Chelsea made it a cup double in defeating Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final. However, their cup form was not matched in the Premier League, finishing in a modest sixth place, their lowest League position for ten years.
2. Arsenal:
Arsenal’s revenue increased to £234.9m in 2011/12. It represented an £8.1m (4%) rise on the previous year. In their 125th anniversary season the Gunners experienced a similar level of on-pitch performance to the previous season. A late season rally helped the club finish in third position in the Premier League, with broadcast distributions remaining constant at £56.2m. As in 2010/11, the club exited the Champions League at the round of 16-stage with defeat to AC Milan, as a remarkable comeback fell just short. Arsenal is at the sixth position in the standings.
3. Manchester City:
City became English League Champions for the first time in 44 years after a dramatic climax to the Premier League season. However, their strong league form did not translate to the European stage and they failed to qualify from the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League at the last 16 stage. Team’s revenue was €244m in 2011/12 and is behind Arsenal in the standing at seventh position.
4. Liverpool:
Liverpool is at ninth position in the standing and despite their absence from European competition for the first time since season 1999/00, recorded a £5.1m (3%) increase in revenues to £188.7m. Although the club won the Carling Cup and reached the FA Cup final, a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Premier League meant that 2011/12 was the third successive season in which Liverpool failed to qualify for the Champions League.
5. Tottenham Hotspur:
Tottenham Hotspur was at 13th position, with total revenue decreasing by £19.3m (12%) to £144.2m in 2011/12. This is primarily down to the failure to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, following their successful debut in the 2010/11 season. Spurs had an ultimately frustrating 2011/12 season, reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and despite finishing in 4th place in the Premier League, missed out on Champions League qualification owing to Chelsea’s triumph in the Champions League final.
6. Newcastle United:
The Magpies are at the twentieth position during the 2011/12 and their revenue totaled up to £93.3m, an increase of £4.8m (5%) from the previous year.
Unlike a typical business entity, success for a football club is measured not in terms of financial figures alone, but like any business model a Football Clubs too has a cost and revenue side. The business model of these soccer clubs would be interesting to understand. In the next few articles, we may understand one such football clubs business model.
