The North West’s “big fur” football clubs generated £1.2 billion worth of revenue in 2014, making the England’s North West the most financially productive region in the world for football.
Deloitte’s Football Money League noted that all four clubs, Liverpool, Everton, Manchester United, and Manchester City enjoyed record revenues.
After a successful season, with Liverpool coming in runner-up to Manchester City, saw the club regain a place in the top 10 with a revenue of £255.8 million. This three place climb to ninth position follows a 24% (£49.6 million) increase in revenue.
Rivals Everton entered into the top 20 for the first time in nearly a decade and only the second time in the report’s history, generating revenue of £120.5 million.
Manchester United moved up to second place in the global rankings for the first time since 2008; with a turnover of £433.2 million, just behind world’s richest club Real Madrid (turnover £459.5 million). This move comes in spite of a disappointing season which saw the club finishing in is lowest position in Premier League history.
Manchester City saw the largest increase of any top 10 club, with a leap of 28% attributed to improved commercial deals and increased broadcast income to maintain their sixth place on the table with a total revenue of £346.5 million.
Deloitte’s Sports Business division has marked the 18th edition of its report, ranking clubs based on their generated revenue. Partner at the Sports Business division Dan Jones said:
“It was a very successful year for the North West clubs. No other region in the world has as many clubs in the top 20 and these clubs play a major role in the regional economy.
“Last year Premier League clubs benefited from much larger broadcast revenues thanks to the latest round of Premier League deals.
“The Premier League is currently undertaking its next round of sales of broadcast rights and with the market expectation that another significant increase will occur, it is likely that the Money League will have a strongly English appearance in the coming years, with the North West clubs likely to be at the heart of this.”
Words: Peter Cribley