Women's sides at world's highest earning football clubs report average revenues of €2.4m in the 2021/22 season

Women’s football sides from the world’s top 20 revenue-generating clubs reported average attributable revenues of €2.4m in the 2021/22 season, according to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.*

FC Barcelona generated the highest revenue out of all 2023 Money League clubs from its women’s team. FC Barcelona Femení, 2021 UEFA Women’s Champions League winners and 2022 finalists, generated revenue of €7.7m in the 2021/22 season.

Manchester United reported the second-highest revenue for their women’s side (€6.0m), followed by Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain (€3.6m), Arsenal (€2.2m) and Tottenham (€2.1m).

Tim Bridge, lead partner for Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said: “Major international tournaments in the past four-years have drawn record-breaking audiences to women’s football, spurring clubs and leagues around the world to focus more determinedly on developing the women’s game. Revenues generated by top clubs at this early-stage indicate the significant value that women’s sides will bring to clubs in future seasons, as their popularity and success continues to grow.

“There’s still significant work to be done to ensure that women’s club football continues to professionalise and develop in a financially sustainable way. The vast majority of Money League clubs that provided us with information on its women’s side noted that they made a loss in the 2021/2022 season, with wage costs surpassing total revenues in almost all cases, and we expect this to be the case for most clubs around the world. Although losses are to be expected for any business in its nascent phase, the challenge now for the women’s game is to develop an appropriate strategy for growth which may not simply follow the template of the men’s game; in fact, that approach may well limit growth potential.”

Deloitte’s research found that clubs are looking to differentiate the commercial proposition of their men’s and women’s teams. Around half of the Money League clubs that currently have a top-tier women’s teams (47% of the 15 to provide information) currently negotiate the shirt sponsors of the women’s side separately from the men’s team.

Meanwhile, more than half of the current top-tier Money League clubs (seven of the 13 to provide information) noted that they generated a profit from player sales attributed to the women’s team.

Zoe Burton, director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, added: “The future growth of the women’s game will rely on resilient strategies that include details on the value clubs and leagues are looking to drive from brand partnerships, both individually and as a collective, and the structure of commercial rights. Drawing new revenues into the women’s game will propel a virtuous circle, generating investment to fund club infrastructure, player wages, grassroot initiatives, and more, that will support growth in the women’s game for years to come.”

Off the pitch, Deloitte’s 2023 Football Money League, publishing next week, highlights that female representation on club boards has stagnated. Of the 19 clubs to provide information, just one in 10 board seats (10%) at the highest revenue generating clubs in world football are filled by women, the same proportion reported in the 2022 edition of the report. Eight Money League club boards have no women.

Bridge concludes: “Improving female representation on club boards will not only benefit the women’s game but will also improve diversity of thought and visible leadership across the entire industry. Both on and off the pitch, gender equality should continue to be a key priority for clubs to ensure they are building financially sustainable businesses for the long-term, while delivering the change that fans, players and commercial partners are demanding.”

The 2023 Deloitte Football Money League will publish on Thursday 19th January.

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Notes to editors

*Of the 17 clubs with a current top-flight women’s team, 15 provided information to Deloitte pertaining to the financial operations of their teams in 2021/22. These clubs reported average revenues of €2.4m for their women’s side.

Revenue generated by Money League women’s teams in 2021/22 – Top six
 

This press release is based on the upcoming 2023 Deloitte Football Money League publishing on Thursday 19th January and will be found here www.deloitte.co.uk/dfml. 

The Money League discloses revenue attributed by each club to the women’s team and associated activities, in relation to the financial year ending in 2022 covering the 2021/22 season. This includes revenue from matchday, broadcast and commercial sources attributed to the women's team and associated activities. Women’s football revenue excludes revenue contributions from men’s football, player transfer fees, VAT and other sales related taxes.

The women’s football revenue and other information is derived from information provided directly from individual clubs. We have not performed any verification work or audited any of the information in respect of each club for the purpose of this publication.

The Money League publication also notes whether there was profit on the sale of player transfers attributable to the women’s team, and if the women’s team shirt sponsorship and kit manufacturer were negotiated separately to the men’s team’s equivalent agreements. These data points were also received directly from clubs, with information not necessarily in the public domain.

The proportion of females of the total number of members of a club’s Board(s) of Directors were disclosed to us by clubs between October 2022 and January 2023 and reflected the club’s Board(s) of Directors at that point in time.

For the purpose of the international comparisons, unless otherwise stated, all figures for the financial year ending in 2022 have been translated at the average exchange rate for the year ending 30 June 2022 (€1 = £0.85).

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