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European clubs see biggest gate receipts rise in a decade

A new UEFA study shows that European top division football clubs saw gate receipt revenue increase by around 10% in the most recent reporting period.

The European Club Footballing Landscape report for 2018 shows the biggest rise in receipts in 10 years, with €3.1bn taken across the continent compared to €2.9bn in the previous year.

The clubs took a total of €21.0bn in total revenues, of which 15% came from gate receipts – the same percentage as 2017.

UEFA said the growth was concentrated in a few clubs, with 20 clubs accounting for around half of all gate receipts.

English Premier League clubs generated €723m in gate receipts in 2018 at an average of €36.2m per club. That was a 4% increase in euro terms and an 8% increase in domestic currency terms. Spain’s La Liga clubs brought in €555m at an average of €27.8m, while Germany’s Bundesliga teams received €511m at an average of €28.4m. Italy and France rounded out the top five.

Gate receipts made up just 13% of English Premier League clubs’ total revenue, compared to 16% in Germany and 18% in Spain.

Once again, gate receipts made the largest contribution to total revenue in Scotland (43%), where Hibernian returned to the top flight after three seasons playing in the Scottish Championship, leading to a 19% increase in gate receipts in 2018. At the other end of the scale, gate receipts generated just 7% of revenue in Denmark and Russia.

Barcelona brought in the most revenue through gate receipts, with €164m up 15% compared to the previous year. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Manchester United completed the top five.

Six clubs generated €100m or more from gate receipts in FY2018, at an average of between €3.7m and €5.7m per home match.

Some clubs showcased particularly strong growth either due to matches played in bigger stadiums (Tottenham Hotspur (+57%) and Atlético Madrid (38%)), increased success in UEFA club competitions (AS Roma (+44%)), or renewed interest from improved sporting performance (AC Milan (120%)).

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