A KPMG study of the finances of last season's winners of the main European football leagues has found Barcelona had the highest revenues, Manchester City has the most valuable squad, while Paris Saint-Germain made the most profit.
The firm's football benchmark team has released its European Champions Report for 2019, the third year it has compiled the study. It analyses the finances of the 2017/18 league winners in England, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Spanish champions Barcelona recorded net operating revenues (excluding the effect of player transfers) of €689 million, ahead of Germany's Bayern Munich at €596 million and Manchester City's €568 million. Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, meanwhile, had revenues of just €62 million.
Operating loss
Only two of the eight clubs made an operating loss over the season, with Istanbul-based Galatasaray in the red by €49 million and Italian aristocrats Juventus losing €19 million. Paris Saint-Germain made a profit of €32 million, while PSV scraped into the black by €200,000.
Football is undergoing an important phase of change from a business point of view
Using a set formula, KPMG also estimated the value of each club’s squad on January 1st, 2019. City’s squad came in at €1.182 billion, ahead of Barcelona’s €1.1 billion. Paris Saint-Germain’s was buttressed by the addition of the single most expensive player, Neymar, who KPMG reckons is worth €229 million.
The report found that commercial and sponsorship revenues were the biggest slice of income at six of the clubs, with only Juventus and Porto more reliant on revenue from broadcasting deals.
“Football is undergoing an important phase of change from a business point of view,” said Andrea Sartori, KPMG’s global head of sports.
“Top clubs are moving towards an entertainment company model, transforming football organisations into real global brands, capable of attracting audiences from all over the world.”
