EPL's finances top Bundesliga
June 4, 2015
England's Premier League has surpassed Germany's Bundesliga as Europe's most profitable football league, according to a new study.
The 24th annual football finance review, published by Deloitte, reveals revenues for the Premier League have boomed after the introduction of a new broadcasting contract this season. England's top division is now raking in 4.4-billion-euros ($5 billion), a 29 percent increase on last season's revenues, and earns a £614 million profit.
"Following recent announcements of commercial deals for a host of the largest clubs, we expect the Premier League to surpass the Bundesliga in commercial revenue terms and hence lead the world in all three key revenue categories from 2014-15," explained Dan Jones from Deloitte's Sport Business Group.
While the Bundesliga might be still the most attended sports league, the governing association, Deutsche Fussball-Liga (DFL), comes up at a 1.4 billion euro ($1.6 billion) shortfall.
In February, the Premier League announced a £5.1 billion (6.94 billion euros) domestic TV rights deal for the period 2016-2019. Meanwhile, the Bundesliga's broadcasting contract of brings in 628 million euros ($715 million) per season.
"In recent years, German football has used its strong financial base to achieve exceptional results. And the future looks positive for continued economic growth," DFL CEO Christian Seifert said in January.
Unpopular measures, such as Monday evening matches, were touted as being possible avenues to increasing the league's attractiveness to broadcasters.
Seifert called for an 'honest discussion' and the DFL will renegotiate their contract next year ahead of the 2017-18 season.
rd (AP, dpa)