Premier League revenues break $5bn mark

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London - English Premier League clubs' revenues broke the $5bn mark in the recent 2013-14 season, say analysts at Deloitte. They say the figure has been hit just four years after passing $3.32bn, and that revenues have doubled in seven years. "A remarkable achievement in isolation, but phenomenal in the wider economic context of that same period," said Dan Jones, head of Deloitte's sports team. He said the battle between TV firms for Premier League rights was key to driving the league's revenues higher. "The entry of BT Sport into the market to compete with BSkyB has applied huge upward pressure to broadcast revenue - from the 2013-14 season onwards each domestic live game on average generates broadcast revenue of $10.8m," said Mr Jones, in Deloitte's Annual Review of Football Finance. "It is clear that BT Sport's entry is not a passing fad but a serious, focused, long-term commitment." In 2013-14 top flight clubs benefitted, on average, from an extra $41.5m in broadcast revenue. While providing a snapshot of the 2013-14 season, the Deloitte report looks at the 2012-13 season in greater depth. There were positive signs in the Premier League, with revenues rising to $4.15bn for the first time, but the perennial issues of high wages and debts remained. Premier League operating profits decreased slightly, and Deloitte said clubs were operating on "razor thin" margins. Wage costs as a percentage of revenues hit a new high of 71%. Clubs' aggregate net debt grew by $230.74m to a total of more than $4.15bn by summer 2013. Deloitte says this was largely driven by an increase in interest-free "soft loans" from owners of $378.48m. In fact soft loans totalled $2.66bn, up from £1.4bn a year earlier, represented close to two-thirds of total net debt. Some 90% of this figure was attributable to four Premier League clubs - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers. However, Deloitte expects Uefa's Financial Fair Play break-even requirements - which saw Manchester City punished last month for breaching the rules - to focus clubs' minds on balancing their books. "The signs are that most clubs are adopting a more financially robust and balanced approach to the way they run their businesses, and they must continue down this path if they are to safeguard the long term financial health of the game," Mr Jones said. (FA)

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