Professional football will have to tighten its belt. The health crisis is expected to cost European clubs more than 8 billion euros over two seasons, a sudden halt after twenty years of uninterrupted growth, according to a UEFA report published on Friday, May 21.
By describing a sector that has come to a halt in its race for revenue, this document also sheds light on the brief adventure of the Super League, a private tournament project supposed to be very lucrative and which almost imploded European football in April.
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Because the findings of UEFA, like those of the twelve mutinous clubs, which have temporarily given up seceding, converge: the pandemic has spared no club, depriving them ” at least “ 10% of expected revenues in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. For these two seasons, the European body assesses the cumulative shortfall in its 55 championships at 8.7 billion euros, including 7.2 billion euros for the 711 most important clubs, and 1.5 billion for others.
Including all the accounts already published, as well as the renegotiations of TV rights and a series of parameters, this 112-page estimate is by far the most precise as to the economic impact of Covid-19 on professional football.
Violent shock in Ligue 1
In the fall, FIFA estimated that the pandemic risked amputating $ 14 billion (11.4 billion euros) “The entire football economy” for its 211 federations, a calculation that it has never detailed since. The European clubs union had, for its part, estimated at 4 billion euros the shortfall for European clubs in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, before its former president Andrea Agnelli mentioned in December a range of “6.5 billion to 8.5 billion euros”.
The closed door weighed heavily, explains UEFA, focusing on the 711 top-flight clubs: ticketing revenues are expected to drop from 3.6 to 4 billion euros in total over two years, and the vagueness remains on the return to full stages. Commercial revenues are expected to decrease from 2.4 billion to 2.7 billion euros, while TV rights will be cut from 1.2 billion to 1.4 billion over these two seasons, with already renegotiations. on the decline “Of 700 million euros” beyond 2021 for the broadcasters of UEFA and the five big leagues.
The shock is particularly violent in Ligue 1 because of the withdrawal of Mediapro, which explains the dive “About 30%” of the overall revenues of French clubs, the most affected in Europe with Scottish clubs.
End of two golden decades
The crisis came to interrupt two golden decades, with an average growth of 8.2% per year since 1999, until reaching in 2019 a cumulative income of 23 billion euros for the 711 European teams – the English clubs in the lead.
But during this time wages also swelled, to the point of absorbing more than 60% of the receipts, a ratio “Significantly superior to any other industry”, observes UEFA, “Including the investment bank” and its traders covered with bonuses. However, the players, at the heart of the sporting rivalry, and therefore in a position of strength, have made only a modest effort in the face of the pandemic: the clubs have saved around two billion euros in total, including one billion euros. of wages over the two seasons.
Their operating income should therefore decline. “From 5.3 billion to 6.2 billion euros” over the period, while they were already showing net losses in 2019, in particular due to the amortization of transfers.
Regarding cash flow, a key issue given the sector’s high levels of indebtedness, UEFA plans a “Existential risk” for about 120 clubs – while the rest will cover their losses by borrowing again or claiming an extension from their owners.
