The world's wealthiest league - the English Premier League - also pays out, by far, the most in players' wages.
The Premier League is well ahead of its nearest rivals - Spain, Italy, Germany and France - when it comes to wages and this supports English football's status as the European club powerhouse.
According to Deloitte's annual review of football finance, the nearest competitor to the Premier League on wages is Spain's La Liga, which paid £538 m (just over half that of the Premier League). The Premier League's wage bill is now more than double that of the Italian, German or French leagues.
On top of all that, England's second tier, the Championship (known as the First Division until 2004), is now BIGGER than Italy's TOP flight, Serie A, and is the fourth-biggest league in Europe!
Premier League wages break the £1 bn barrier
By Jeremy Wilson
29/05/2008
The Telegraph
The remarkable increases in debt, wages and revenue across the Premier League are underlined in a major new report that supports English football's status as the European club powerhouse.
For the first time, the overall amount spent on wages exceeded £1 billion during the 2007-8 season, following a dramatic £115 million rise for 2006-7.
Cheer up: John Terry earns the Premier League's highest wage
The final figure of £969 m for 2006-7 represents an increase of 13 per cent on 2005-6, meaning that the Premier League continues to be the best-paid league in Europe.
According to Deloitte's annual review of football finance, the nearest competitor on wages is Spain's La Liga, which paid £538 m. The Premier League's wage bill is now more than double that of the Italian, German or French leagues.
Uefa President Michel Platini has said that English clubs have achieved success on the back of huge debts and, while there has been a significant 19 per cent rise in overall debt, his argument remains largely undermined by the statistics.
That is because the 11 per cent overall increase in revenue within the Premier League has remained reasonably close to the wage rise. Attendances are also up, with the Championship now the world's fourth biggest league, above Serie A.
The current wage/turnover ratio in the Premier League is 63 per cent, almost identical to the Spanish, Italian and French leagues.
England is well ahead of Europe's four other big leagues when it comes to wages
As of summer 2007, the combined net debt of clubs was £2.47 bn, although £900 m was of a non-interest bearing 'soft loan' nature from club owners. It meant that Premier League clubs incurred net interest charges from finance providers of £144 m in 2006-7.
However, Dan Jones, a partner at Deloitte sports business group, has argued that the level of debt should be put into the context of their revenue. "If you take off the soft-debt, the overall debt is, on average, one year's revenue."
Where English football is unusual is the relative lack of concern at generating profit. It is the second year that operating profits have dropped, while pre-tax losses have reached a new high.
"In this sense it seems that, as in prior decades, we are seeing football clubs treated as 'trophy assets', except with clubs now owned by billionaires from a range of nationalities rather than local businessmen made good," said Jones.
"We expressed our concern this time last year that player wages would consume most of the increase in revenue, with no improvement in profit margins. The improvement in cost control which would demonstrate a normal business culture of maximising profitability does not appear to be happening at the Premier League clubs."
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telegraph.co.uk
The Premier League is well ahead of its nearest rivals - Spain, Italy, Germany and France - when it comes to wages and this supports English football's status as the European club powerhouse.
According to Deloitte's annual review of football finance, the nearest competitor to the Premier League on wages is Spain's La Liga, which paid £538 m (just over half that of the Premier League). The Premier League's wage bill is now more than double that of the Italian, German or French leagues.
On top of all that, England's second tier, the Championship (known as the First Division until 2004), is now BIGGER than Italy's TOP flight, Serie A, and is the fourth-biggest league in Europe!
Premier League wages break the £1 bn barrier
By Jeremy Wilson
29/05/2008
The Telegraph
The remarkable increases in debt, wages and revenue across the Premier League are underlined in a major new report that supports English football's status as the European club powerhouse.
For the first time, the overall amount spent on wages exceeded £1 billion during the 2007-8 season, following a dramatic £115 million rise for 2006-7.
Cheer up: John Terry earns the Premier League's highest wage
The final figure of £969 m for 2006-7 represents an increase of 13 per cent on 2005-6, meaning that the Premier League continues to be the best-paid league in Europe.
According to Deloitte's annual review of football finance, the nearest competitor on wages is Spain's La Liga, which paid £538 m. The Premier League's wage bill is now more than double that of the Italian, German or French leagues.
Uefa President Michel Platini has said that English clubs have achieved success on the back of huge debts and, while there has been a significant 19 per cent rise in overall debt, his argument remains largely undermined by the statistics.
That is because the 11 per cent overall increase in revenue within the Premier League has remained reasonably close to the wage rise. Attendances are also up, with the Championship now the world's fourth biggest league, above Serie A.
The current wage/turnover ratio in the Premier League is 63 per cent, almost identical to the Spanish, Italian and French leagues.
England is well ahead of Europe's four other big leagues when it comes to wages
As of summer 2007, the combined net debt of clubs was £2.47 bn, although £900 m was of a non-interest bearing 'soft loan' nature from club owners. It meant that Premier League clubs incurred net interest charges from finance providers of £144 m in 2006-7.
However, Dan Jones, a partner at Deloitte sports business group, has argued that the level of debt should be put into the context of their revenue. "If you take off the soft-debt, the overall debt is, on average, one year's revenue."
Where English football is unusual is the relative lack of concern at generating profit. It is the second year that operating profits have dropped, while pre-tax losses have reached a new high.
"In this sense it seems that, as in prior decades, we are seeing football clubs treated as 'trophy assets', except with clubs now owned by billionaires from a range of nationalities rather than local businessmen made good," said Jones.
"We expressed our concern this time last year that player wages would consume most of the increase in revenue, with no improvement in profit margins. The improvement in cost control which would demonstrate a normal business culture of maximising profitability does not appear to be happening at the Premier League clubs."
CLICK TO ENLARGE
telegraph.co.uk