Premiership wages 'to top £1bn'

[russe||]

Premier League wages are set to break the £1bn barrier for the first time in the competition's history, a report from Deloitte has said.

Salaries and bonuses will increase next season as a £1.7bn television deal for top-flight games comes into effect, the report says.

Deloitte's annual review of football finances showed Premier League wages rose 9% to £854m in 2005/06.

Chelsea's outlay totalled £114m while four other clubs paid more than £50m.

The new TV revenue - including domestic and international rights - equates to about £300m extra per season over the lifetime of the current three-year deal.

However, Deloitte said the wave of new owners at clubs, including Aston Villa and Liverpool, was likely to result in more restraint in spending, with servicing debt and investing in stadia being other key priorities.

"A lot of these new owners have had sporting success but also considerable financial success", said director of Deloitte's Sports Business group, Alan Switzer.

"A decent chunk of the money will still flow through to the players, but we don't think it will be the same proportion that flowed through previously."

While spending on transfers is set to exceed £300m this summer, Deloitte's Paul Rawnsley said it was not viable for clubs to simply throw money at players.

"Whilst wages will rise, clubs do have the opportunity to increase the importance of performance related pay structures," he said.

"This will both insulate the business in future when on-pitch results are not so good, and also help motivate and reward players and management for winning."



The report confirmed that the Premiership was once again the top-earning league in the world.

Its 20 clubs generated £1.4bn in turnover on 2005/06, a figure expected to rise to £1.8bn in 2007/8.

And the report pointed out that the increased revenue - alongside cost controls - should almost double combined operating profits to £260m next season.

Manchester United was once again top of the English revenue league, making £167.7m.

The club was followed by Chelsea on £152.8m, Arsenal on £133m and Liverpool on £121.6m.

Arsenal's revenue is expected to have soared in 2006/07, with its income from gate receipts and corporate hospitality boosted by its first season in the 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium.

Only nine Premiership clubs, however, actually made a pre-tax profit - down from 14 in 2004/05.

Wages paid to players in England again outstripped their European counterparts.

The total wage bill in Italy, the second biggest in Europe, was 35% below the English level at 806m euros (£548m) while clubs in the much-admired Spanish La Liga shelled out 739m euros (£502m) to their stars.

Although Italy was also the second highest earning league in Europe, falling matchday revenue was likely to see it slip behind Germany and Spain in the 2006/07 report.

The "big five" European leagues generated 53% of the total £8.6bn European football market.

Revenue generated by clubs in the Championship - the second tier in England - grew 4% to £312m, reaffirming it as Europe's sixth biggest league.

Last month Deloitte said promotion from the Championship to the Premiership this season would be worth about £60m for the successful clubs - Sunderland, Birmingham and Derby County.

And the report highlighted the financial chasm between the two divisions.

The gap between revenue at the average Premier League club and Championship side hit a record £56m in 2005/06 and was tipped to grow to £70m next season.



PREMIER LEAGUE'S TOP WAGE BILLS 2005/06
Chelsea - £114m
Manchester Utd - £85m
Arsenal - £83m
Liverpool - £69m
Newcastle Utd - £52m

Top league revenues 05/06
England £1.4bn
Italy £1.0bn
Germany £0.8bn
Spain £0.8bn
France £0.6bn

BBC NEWS | Business | Premiership wages 'to top £1bn'

Quite interesting. Scary to see just how much money is in football.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

It have got out of hand.

[Werdna]

Big business...

Just means more and more people are watching the game and are interested in it which in turn lures more and more successful business men.

Wouldn't say it is scary as these guys are less likely than ever to do a "Leeds" the only worrying thing is if they decide they want to break away, form their own league and do away with relegation for example or make other large changes to the wonderful game...

[azzurri]

The salaries are getting out of hand. To think we idolize these ppl puts things into perspective.

[nvn04]

The salaries are getting pretty ridiculous. Of the top 20 highest paid international athletes (non-Americans), 9 are soccer players (or footballers if you like). This includes endorsements too, but still some of the salaries...

By Jonah Freedman, SI.com
Is there any question what sport is the most popular on earth? Our International 20 of the top-earning non-American athletes is dominated by nine soccer players, all of whom benefit here from one of the worst exchange rates on the dollar in years. Many have also been helped by the deep pockets of Chelsea billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, who is a George Steinbrenner on a global scale. (To read more about the soccer explosion on the 20, click here.)

Meanwhile, the retirement of reigning international king Michael Schumacher has opened the door for another Formula One superstar, Fernando Alonso. He may not be a household name yet, but he's gaining fast. (To read more on the Spanish ace, click here.) The rest of the International 20 is made up of golf and tennis stars, an Italian motorcycle-racing icon and five other athletes who make their living in U.S.-based leagues.

1
Fernando Alonso
Auto Racing
Spain
Last Year's Rank: 15
$35,000,000

2
Ronaldinho
FC Barcelona (Soccer)
Brazil
Last Year's Rank: 3
$32,700,000

3
Roger Federer
Tennis
Switzerland
Last Year's Rank: 7
$31,343,885

4
Valentino Rossi
Motor Sports
Italy
Last Year's Rank: 2
$30,000,000

5
David Beckham
Real Madrid/Los Angeles Galaxy (Soccer)
Great Britain
Last Year's Rank: 5
$29,700,000

6
Yao Ming
Houston Rockets (NBA)
China
Last Year's Rank: 13
$27,455,000

7
Ichiro Suzuki
Seattle Mariners (MLB)
Japan
Last Year's Rank: NR
$24,000,000

8
Maria Sharapova
Tennis
Russia
Last Year's Rank: 4
$23,799,501

9
Thierry Henry
Arsenal (Soccer)
France
Last Year's Rank: NR
$21,400,000

10
Michael Ballack
Chelsea (Soccer)
Germany
Last Year's Rank: NR
$20,900,000

11
Ronaldo
AC Milan (Soccer)
Brazil
Last Year's Rank: 8
$20,700,000

12
Hideki Matsui
New York Yankees (MLB)
Japan
Last Year's Rank: 9
$19,000,000

13
Dirk Nowitzki
Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
Germany
Last Year's Rank: NR
$18,101,625

14
Ralf Schumacher
Auto Racing
Germany
Last Year's Rank: 15
$18,000,000

15
Andriy Shevchenko
Chelsea (Soccer)
Ukraine
Last Year's Rank: NR
$17,300,000

16
Alfonso Soriano
Chicago Cubs (MLB)
Dominican Republic
Last Year's Rank: NR
$17,250,000

17
Vijay Singh
Pro Golf
Fiji
Last Year's Rank: 11
$16,411,026

18
Alessandro Del Piero
Juventus (Soccer)
Italy
Last Year's Rank: NR
$15,700,000

19
John Terry
Chelsea (Soccer)
Great Britain
Last Year's Rank: NR
$15,500,000

20
Steven Gerrard
Liverpool (Soccer)
Great Britain
Last Year's Rank: NR
$15,400,000

Source: cnnsi.com

[LAF]

When you consider how much nurses and soldiers get paid it's fucking obscene.

Train for three hours a day and play footy twice a week. And to think some players moan.

[Werdna]

Originally Posted by nvn04

The salaries are getting pretty ridiculous. Of the top 20 highest paid international athletes (non-Americans), 9 are soccer players (or footballers if you like). This includes endorsements too, but still some of the salaries...


Source: cnnsi.com

Why should that be surprising?
The only reason it has been different the past 20-30 years is because American Sports were always run in a more business like fashion. Now football is catching up and will easily overtake the American Sports financially because it is much more popular.

[Werdna]

Originally Posted by LAF

When you consider how much nurses and soldiers get paid it's fucking obscene.

Train for three hours a day and play footy twice a week. And to think some players moan.

Or actors, musicians...or CEOs...or Big Brother winners etc etc.

[russe||]

Sorry am I the only one to think that one of those names sticks out like a sore thumb? How the hell is a useless tosser like Ralk Schumacher 14th on the list and the second highest paid F1 driver? He's crap!

Oh and you can understand why Terry and Lampard want more money from Chelsea when you see what Ballack and Shevchenko are getting.