(by Davide Pollastri) – In front of the revenues recorded by top flight of the English football championship (the so-called English Premier League) there are only 3 turnover volumes: the 17.5 billion euros invoiced by the NFL, the 10.6 by the MLB and the 9.7 by the NBA. Among the main sources of revenue of the oldest club football championship in the world, the 1.1 billion coming from merchandising (15.7% of the total) and the 1.2 billion generated by sponsorships (17.1% of the total) stand out. total)
2023 was, to all intents and purposes, the golden year of sports business, a sector capable of generating a turnover estimated at 73.6 billion euros (slightly less than the Walt Disney Company).
Contributing 62% of the total are the main US leagues (to the aforementioned revenues of the NFL, MLB and NBA must be added the revenues of the NHL, estimated at 5.8 billion euros, and those of the MLS, estimated at 1 .8 billion), to which are added the 1.2 billion euros generated by the UFC (the most important mixed martial arts organization, also American) and the turnover of the main European football championships (the 7 billion of the Premier League are followed by the 3.8 of the Bundesliga, the 3.5 of LaLiga, the 3 of Serie A and the 2.4 of Ligue1), which, added together, reach 27% of the overall turnover.
According to these numbers, collected and reported by the consultancy firm Sports Valueit clearly emerges that the attention of athletes, and consequently of sponsors, is mainly concentrated on the main American and European tournaments, which together reach 89% of the total (the percentage rises to 93% if we add the 3.2 billion – destined to increase in the coming years – generated by the UEFA Champions League).
Specifically, the basis of the economic success of the North American and European leagues is the enormous attraction generated by the presence of champions and the beauty of the stadiums (almost always sold-out), the global coverage and, as we were saying, the involvement of wealthy business partners.
Focusing on the Premier League (for years the richest and most followed championship on our continent), according to one of the many reports drawn up by the company founded by Amir Somoggi the tournament reaches 189 countries and 1,870,000,000 people; furthermore, the commercial revenues of the 20 leading teams are worth 2.3 billion euros, with 53% of these revenues generated by sponsors linked to the uniforms (26% by technical sponsors, 21% by main sponsors and 6% by sleeves sponsor).
Leader of the special ranking regarding revenues from sponsorships linked to uniforms is Manchester United, which, with 196 million euros (of which 104 million guaranteed by the technical sponsor, 69 million by the main sponsor and 23 million by the sleeve sponsor), contributes for 2.8% of the total revenues (commercial and non-commercial) of the Premier League.
A final, interesting data concerns the commercial revenues of the clubs that the English market considers the ‘Big 6’ (Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea): together, they generate revenues equal to 905 million euros, i.e. 13% of the 7 billion in total revenues.
With these numbers we can say without the possibility of contradiction that the Premier League represents the model that the European sports sector must follow to reach the turnover of the main North American leagues.