Matchday revenue, one of the major sources of income for football clubs, includes ticket sales, merchandise sales, and food and drink sales from the catering & hospitality sector. Season 22/23 has been the first full season without any COVID restrictions and this meant a lot to the football fraternity especially clubs in the lower leagues whose matchday revenue stream is the primary source of income. The return of fans to stadiums registered the much-needed welcome boost to the revenue registers for football clubs
For the clubs in top division leagues, the revenue outgrew the pre-pandemic values. As per UEFA Benchmarking Report 2024, 2022/23 gate revenues are expected to increase strongly by more than €700m or 32% over the 21/22 revenues, reflecting the lifting of the final pandemic-related restrictions. Further, an all-time record of 209 million fans attended top-tier league matches across Europe in 2022/23, with a further 32 million attending various cup matches
This blog looks at the matchday revenue importance for leagues across Europe
Big Five Leagues
The aggregate matchday revenues of the ‘big five’ league clubs jumped 35% over 21/22 revenues to reach €2.76bn. That is primarily buoyed by opening the stadiums to fans for the full season after pandemic. In 21/22, In Germany and Italy, matchday revenues were hampered by partially admitting fans. The jump is impressive also because it is higher than the pre-pandemic revenue figures of €2.3bn in 2018/19
The revenue figures by league also represents the above fact. Bundesliga and Serie A matchday revenues jumped 94% and 88% respectively. Premier League & Ligue 1 revenues increased by a modest 11% & 14% respectively and LALIGA by 32%
Top 20 Revenue Generating Clubs
For the top 20 revenue generating clubs, contributions of matchday revenues have increased significantly with each passing year. In 21/22, matchday contributed 15% to the total revenues up 18% from the 22/23 season. In value terms, the revenues reached €1.85bn, a jump of 37% over the previous year and 24% over the 18/19 season!
8 clubs reported matchday revenues over €100mn which in itself was an increase from 5 who reported tripe digit figures in the previous season and only three clubs reported negative growth. The largest increase was seen in the two Milan clubs, AC Milan reported an increase of 147% while Inter matchday revenues increased by 102%. The chart below displays the clubs who recorded the highest growths
Largely, the growth was seen by the German & Italian clubs, mainly due to full opening up stadiums and also aided by robust performances in European club competitions
Revenue Per Spectator Per Match
‘Revenue Per Available Room’, a hotel industry metric, measuring inventory (available accommodations) being sold at a hotel and how much revenue is being generated from those bookings
In the same vein, Revenue per Spectator can be addressed as a metric to indicate the revenue generated per seat per match in the stadium. For the Premier League clubs, considering domestic league matches in their home stadiums along with the European competition matches (for qualifying teams), we analysed the results purely for academic purposes (not to be considered exact). The spectrum of revenue per spectator per match ranges from £20 to £100. At the top end of the spectrum lies Chelsea & Tottenham, who are the only clubs to touch £100 mark and at the lower end lies Aston Villa, Everton and Nottingham Forest. The chart below gives a snapshot
In Conclusion
Matchday revenue, in spite of being the lowest contributor amongst the three primary revenue streams, is extremely crucial for clubs. The factors involved in matchday revenue stream is completely controlled by the clubs and with a distinct focus, the revenue can substantially increase. When Newcastle United FC extended their stadium capacity to 52,000 in 2000, it was the 2nd biggest in England and matchday income made up 45% of its total income. Similarly, a change in ticket pricing can add significantly. We have discussed about the importance of stadium in our earlier blog
Clubs will have to be creative in this aspect and look for inspirational ideas out-of-the-box. From stadium redevelopment to events on matchday, opportunities are unlimited!
