Deloitte Football Money League 2023
Growth grasped in the women’s game
The 26th edition of the Deloitte Football Money League, the annual profile of the highest revenue generating clubs in world football, analyses the revenue attributed to the affiliated women’s teams of Money League clubs for the first time.
In 2023, all 20 of the top clubs listed in the Money League have a women’s team, with 17 (85%) playing in the top tier division in their respective countries. Of the 17 clubs with a top tier women’s team, 15 (88%) provided financial information pertaining to women’s football for the financial year ending in 2022 for inclusion in this report.
The women’s teams of Money League clubs had average revenue of €2.4m1 in the 2021/22 season2. FC Barcelona led the way with revenue of €7.7m, following their success in reaching the final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League in back-to-back seasons, and in generating a significant proportion of its revenue from marketing and advertising. FC Barcelona is followed by Manchester United (€6m), Manchester City (€5.1m), Paris Saint-Germain (€3.6m) and North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham (€2.2m and €2.1m respectively)3 .
Currently, there is significant disparity between clubs in the same league, with the women’s team of FC Barcelona (€7.7m) generating significantly more than its domestic peer Atlético de Madrid (€0.1m). The same was reflected in the English league (Manchester United: €6m vs. Leicester City: €0.4m, who only acquired the affiliate women’s team in 2020), where historically more successful clubs are able to extract greater amounts of revenue from commercial sources, and are also able to utilise large club stadia to attract greater crowds and drive interest. This is to be expected considering the women’s game’s nascent phase of growth.
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. Commercial sponsors are likely to be drawn to high profile clubs initially, facilitating further investment into these clubs and enabling teams to compete with their peers who are more established in the women’s game.
Throughout the 26 editions of the Deloitte Football Money League’s publication, the report has underlined the challenges of revenue polarisation and how collective and collaborative action can grow the financial return for all parties. To maximise the future growth of the women’s game, leagues must focus on designing governance that will help all teams to compete on as equal a footing as possible, enabling fast-paced, high-drama matches that will keep fans hooked on the action throughout the season – and this may mean that for the women’s game, the answer is not simply to follow the template of the male equivalent.
1For comparison, in the second edition of FIFA’s women’s football benchmarking report ‘Setting the pace’ covering the COVID-impacted 2020/21 season, 7% of clubs in the 30 leagues surveyed generated more than $1m (€840k) of revenue from matchday, broadcast, commercial and prize money sources. There is a great disparity by the revenue generated by clubs in each league, with clubs in top tier-leagues including the US – who are not present in the Money League - and some ‘big five’ European markets often generating greater revenues than those elsewhere.
2 These revenue figures are approximately 0-1% of the total revenue generated by the clubs. Note that the revenue covers the 2021/22 season, which was prior to the 2022 UEFA European Women’s Championship in England, which may be considered a watershed moment for women’s football.
3 In comparison, when the first edition of the Deloitte Football Money League was released (covering the 1996/97 season and in the early years of the Premier League), Manchester United topped the Money League with revenue of £87.9m, with Arsenal in 20th place with revenue of £27.2m.
“Revenues generated by top clubs at this early-stage hint at the significant value that women’s sides will bring to clubs in future seasons.”
Future growth
At a time when the women’s game is experiencing strong and accelerated growth in popularity and hopefully associated revenue – benefitting from significant global exposure as major national team tournaments such as the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2022 UEFA Women’s EURO were broadcast to record-breaking audience - there is still some way to go to ensure that the sport continues to professionalise and grow sustainably.
The women’s professional game is still near the start of its journey, and it is important that investment is maintained to stimulate the virtuous circle. The vast majority of clubs that provided information noted that they made a loss in 2021/22, and in the majority of cases clubs were spending a greater amount on wages than the club generated in revenue from women’s football, and we expect this to be the case for most clubs across the world.
The future growth of the women’s game will rely on sound commercial strategies. For many clubs, a key question has been the unbundling of commercial rights. In some cases, it may make sense for men’s and women’s rights to be bundled or unbundled where there is a very clear proposition, value, or audience to reach. It is not just about the composition of rights, it’s also important that women’s commercial rights are given the right amount of focus and effort to enable their value to be maximised correctly.
Seven top-tier Money Leagues clubs, (47% of the 15 to provide information) currently negotiate the shirt sponsors of the women’s side separately from the men’s team.
Establishing commercial strategies, detailing the value they are looking to drive from partnerships in the women’s game and individuals responsible for the success of this, will be key for clubs as they look to continue to drive their women’s team forward, and there is empirical evidence that shows the average revenue of a club with a written strategy is higher than for those without4. As the amount of data covering women’s sport increases – in terms of audience reach, profile and demographic – we expect commercial revenues of these teams to rise further, as clubs can demonstrate to partners the value of associations with women’s teams, who are in turn able to increase engagement with a wider fanbase. We expect brands to extract greater amounts of value from these partnerships, which run much deeper than the traditional sponsorship model, and align with the brand’s purpose agenda.
Revenues gained from transfer fees will also be an increasingly important strand of commercial strategies for the women’s game. According to data published by FIFA, international transfers and transfer values in the women’s game are growing annually from a total of 696 cross-border transfers in 2018 (which generated total transfer fees of $0.6m) to 1,304 transfers in 2021 (generating total transfer fees of $2.1m). What’s more, Kiera Walsh’s move to Barcelona from Manchester City in 2022 for a reported £350k represented a world record transfer fee paid for a female player.
Leagues and teams will also have to work with governing bodies to address the endorsement requirements for overseas talent. For example, under the 2022 Governing Body Endorsement (‘GBE’) Rules in the UK, female players are required to score a total of 24 points across five different categories to gain sponsorship. Conversely, men’s talent only requires 15 points to qualify for sponsorship. Confronting this discrepancy will be key for competitive balance across the league and allowance of additional transfers into the English leagues, alongside the continued growth and investment into the grassroots talent pool. In the 2021/2022 season, just under half of top-tier Money League clubs (seven of the 13 to provide information) noted that they generated a profit on player sales attributed to the women’s team. With a growing number of clubs expected to profit from player sales in upcoming seasons, this will propel the virtuous circle forward by creating commercial returns that can be reinvested into club infrastructure and players (transfer fees and wages), further improving on-pitch performance and stimulating greater revenue generating opportunities.
4 Per the second edition of FIFA’s women’s football benchmarking report ‘Setting the pace’.
Female representation on club boards
Across the football industry female representation on club boards significantly lags behind other industries. Approximately one in 10 board seats at football’s highest revenue generating clubs are held by women. In comparison, almost 40% of UK FTSE 100 board positions are now held by women, although it should be noted that non-executives are also included in this figure5.
Improving female representation on club boards will not only benefit the women’s game, but also stands to bring further diversity of thought and visible leadership to 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.
5 FTSE Women Leaders Review.
Closing notes
The revenues being earned at this early stage, combined with the growth of interest, indicate the opportunity for growth from the women’s game in the years to come. The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup brings further opportunity to grow women’s football this year, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact this has on revenue for the next season and beyond. As always, our thanks go to those who have helped us, inside and outside of the Deloitte international network. We particularly thank those clubs who have taken the time to help us with the information and explanations, and hope that additional disclosures can further aid the development of the game.
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.
Matchday revenue is largely derived from gate receipts (including ticket and corporate hospitality sales). Broadcast revenue includes revenue from distributions from participation in domestic leagues, cups and UEFA club competitions. Commercial revenue includes sponsorship, merchandising and revenue from other commercial operations.
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 and kit sponsorships 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).
Key contacts
Timothy Bridge
Partner, Sports Business Group
Zoe Burton
Director, Sports Business Group
Amy Clarke
Manager, Sports Business Group
Tom Hammond
Manager, Sports Business Group
Lizzie Tantam
Public Relations Manager