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Premier League club income and debt
The millionaire’s playground of the Premier League. But these millionaires are not all stupid or loose with their cash. Roman Abramovich has financed Chelsea with an interest free loan which their 2008 accounts show they have 18 months to pay him back if he leaves. Currently Chelsea owe Abramovich £578 million.
The Glazers have a different model at Manchester United by setting up a holding company Red Football Joint Venture Ltd where they have loaded the money they borrowed to buy the club, totalling £699.2 million in 2007/08.
In fact, in order to maintain their Champions League domination the big 4 of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are in debt to a total of around £2 billion.
Table of Premier League Club income and debt:
(based on recent publicised accounts)
| Club | Owner | Income | Profit/Loss | Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | Shareholders | £209m | £307m | |
| Aston Villa | Randy Lerner | £37m | ||
| Blackburn | Walker trust | £20m | ||
| Bolton | Eddie Davies | £37m | ||
| Chelsea | Roman Abramovich | £190m | -£75.8m | £736m |
| Everton | B Kenwright (37.2 per cent), R Earl (34.6) | £26m | ||
| Fulham | Mohamed al-Fayed | £180m | ||
| Hull City | Paul Duffen (main shareholder) | nil | ||
| Liverpool | T Hicks, G Gillett | £167m | £350m | |
| Manchester City | Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed al Nahyan | £82m | nil | |
| Manchester United | Glazer family | £256m | -£44.8m | £700m |
| Middlesbrough | Steve Gibson | £50m | ||
| Newcastle United | Mike Ashley | £99m | nil | |
| Portsmouth | Alexandre Gaydamak | -£23m | £49m | |
| Stoke City | Peter Coates | £5m | ||
| Sunderland | Drumaville Consortium | £35m | ||
| Tottenham | ENIC | £114m | £27m | |
| West Brom | Jeremy Peace | £3m | ||
| West Ham | Björgolfur Gudmundsson | £25m | ||
| Wigan | Dave Whelan | £54m |
Millionaire owners
A number of the richest millionaires buying into football clubs are not actually in the Premier League as this football owners rich list proves.
| Ranking | Owner | Club | Wealth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan | Man City | £15billion |
| 2 | Lakshmi Mittal and family | QPR | £12.5bn |
| 3 | Roman Abramovich | Chelsea | £7bn |
| 4 | Joe Lewis | Tottenham | £2.5bn |
| 5 | Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone | QPR | £2.4bn |
| 6 | Stanley Kroenke | Arsenal | £2.245bn |
| 7 | Alisher Usmanov | Arsenal | £1.5bn |
| 8 | Lord Grantchester & the Moores Family | Everton | £1.2bn |
| =8 | Dermot Desmond | Celtic | £1.2bn |
| 10 | Lord Ashcroft | Watford | £1.1bn |
| 10 | Malcolm Glazer and family | Man Utd | £1.1bn |
| 12 | Simon Keswick | Cheltenham | £966m |
| 13 | Trevor Hemmings | Preston | £900m |
| 14 | Mike Ashley | Newcastle | £800m |
| 15 | Randy Lerner | Aston Villa | £750m |
| 16 | Tom Hicks | Liverpool | £700m |
| 17 | The Walker Family | Blackburn | £660m |
| 18 | Mohammed Al Fayed | Fulham | £650m |
| 19 | Sir David Murray | Rangers | £600m |
| 20 | Steve Morgan | Wolves | £400m |
Income from TV
The Premier League’s TV broadcasting deals brings in £2.7 billion over three years. Of this, £22.8 million is paid to every Premier League club as part of an equal share of revenue. On top of this, clubs are paid prize-money relative to their final position in the league (Manchester United got £14.4 million, Derby got £720,000) and then earnings from the live matches in which they are featured (Manchester United, with 25 matches, made £12.1 million, while Derby got the guaranteed minimum payment for clubs no-one watches of £5.6m).
Television revenue for 2007-08 season:
| Club | TV Revenue |
|---|---|
| Manchester United | £49.3m |
| Chelsea | £45.6m |
| Arsenal | £47m |
| Liverpool | £45.4m |
| Everton | £42.1m |
| Aston Villa | £42.3m |
| Blackburn Rovers | £40.2m |
| Portsmouth | £40.4m |
| Manchester City | £39.7m |
| West Ham United | £36.8m |
| Tottenham Hotspur | £36m |
| Newcastle United | £39.2m |
| Middlesbrough | £34.2m |
| Wigan Athletic | £33.4m |
| Sunderland | £33.6m |
| Bolton Wanderers | £32m |
| Fulham | £31.3m |
| Reading | £30.6m |
| Birmingham City | £29.8m |
| Derby County | £29.1m |
The transfer fee system
The transfer system for elite Premier League players is a little illusionary. Whilst massive fees are agreed often little money is paid up front and the fee itself can be spread over many years.
For example when Man City bought Benjani from Portsmouth for £9 million, Man City paid only £4 million up front with the rest spread over the term of the contract.
Portsmouth have recently being trying to reduce their debt by asking for quicker payments at a reduced transfer fee.