Fans don't want to be left behind when a club announces a new uniform before the new season; clubs are taking full advantage of the T-shirt sales. Most teams, especially the top teams, are aware of how adding a prominent name can increase jersey sales. Clubs tend to earn between 7.5 and 10 percent on average, according to estimates. If a football club can be judged by the company it maintains, then Deloitte's annual Football Money League doesn't shed the most favorable light on the big names in soccer.
In fact, the accounting firm's annual survey on profits in football shows the most worrying picture for Italian football. As more fans around the world follow their favorite soccer clubs, players and competitions, the value of Europe's major soccer leagues has increased. In the Championship, which is the second division of football in England, only three clubs made operating profits last season and only five made net profits once player operations are taken into account. To reduce their dependence on star players and start developing their skills or looking for them as soon as possible, several clubs have adopted a plan that involves investing in cunning search operations and in the club's academy.
However, given the enormous magnitude of club revenues, moderate cost control could make clubs quite profitable. The revenues of most football clubs have been limited to ticket sales and television broadcasts, although with much greater potential, investor interest in football clubs has continued to increase. Chelsea Football Club has cost Roman Abramovich a lot of money, but at the same time it has made him a well-known figure around the world. Wilson, who works in Zolfo Cooper's Manchester office and has advised several football clubs on their financial matters, since player salaries increased substantially in recent decades, many of the traditional owners of English football realized the enormous financial commitment needed for these clubs to continue to be successful on the field of play.
This shows that being successful in business doesn't necessarily make you well-known, but buying a soccer club can give you celebrity, notoriety and access to important people. Sir John Madejski, the current president of the Reading Football Club, describes the ideal owner of a football club as someone with a lot of money, fickle and not faint-hearted. For the best European soccer clubs and leagues, the sale of television rights represents most of their profit and loss accounts. The cost of buying the club fell on the club itself, and the revenues it generated were used to pay the debt and interest that the Glazers committed to buying the club.
Miller also says that assuming that a football club will always be an asset that will be appreciated more and more can be dangerous. However, despite the fact that many clubs currently barely make any profits, while others lose money year after year, some businessmen have been able to profit from owning a club over time. Accounts aren't good reading, but at first glance, there are few reasons why soccer clubs can't be profitable.
