Capital.com NewsTottenham Hotspur have overtaken both Arsenal and Chelsea to become London’s richest football club for the first time in almost 25 years, according to a report by consultancy Deloitte.
Spurs are now the eighth-biggest revenue earners in the football world, their highest position ever, based on Deloitte’s Football Money League, after the club qualified to take part in the UEFA Champions League final in the previous season.
Meanwhile, FC Barcelona has beaten rivals Real Madrid for the global top spot, with revenue breaking the €800m mark (£686m, $890m) for the first time ever.
Spurs achieved revenue of €521.1m, compared with London rivals Chelsea FC, with €513.1m and Arsenal, with €445.6m . The North London club last achieved this feat in the 1996/97 season, despite ranking 10th in the Premier League that year.
“The impact of UEFA club competitions on revenue is evident once again, and particularly in North London, with the rise of Spurs to a new record high of eighth driven by reaching the UEFA Champions League Final, whilst Arsenal drop two places as a direct result of not participating in the competition for the second consecutive season,” Deloitte said.
The Money League looks at clubs’ ability to generate revenue from match day ticket and corporate hospitality sales, as well as broadcasting rights from participation both at domestic and UEFA club level. It also includes commercial sources, such as sponsorship, merchandising and stadium tours, among other things.
Overall, the 20 highest earning football clubs in the world generated a record €9.3bn in combined revenue during the 2018/19 season, marking a rise of 11 per cent on the previous year.
Barcelona tops the list, followed by Real Madrid, with revenue of €757.3m and by Manchester United, with revenue of €711.5m.
“The English Premier League continues to be the most prominent in the Money
League positions with eight of its clubs in the top 20, followed by Italy (four), Germany (three), Spain (three), and France (two),” Deloitte said.
“Whilst the Premier League’s success in our ranking over the years has been primarily driven by the value of its broadcast rights revenue, the most recently agreed broadcast arrangements are a reminder that English clubs will need their broader based business model to continue to succeed in matchday and commercial revenue streams to maintain such strong representation in the coming seasons,” the report added.
Indeed, the €939m increase in revenue of the top 20 clubs was driven predominantly by a 16 per cent rise in broadcast revenue, which increased to €575m and commercial revenue, which rose by 9 per cent to €313m. Match day revenue rose by just 4 per cent to €51m.
Spurs are currently ranked eighth in the Premier League so far this season, with 30 points, compared with leaders Liverpool FC, with 61 points. The club is behind Chelsea, which is in fourth place, with 39 points, but above Arsenal, which is tenth, with 28 points.
