Will the gap between the super clubs and the rest disappear?
Blog of soccer stats
UEFA`s annual report, published on Tuesday, confirmed what many have suspected:the rich become richer and leave the next to far away to breathe the dust. This is probably the most important observation of the massive study (126 pages) of elite club football in every league on the Old Continent. If you have even one drop of inspiration, the Orientation Report, combining licensing, transferring and financial data, and full of any interesting details, will enchant you as a read.
Data such as the fact that the average commission paid to agents in over 2000 Uefa-analyzed transfers is about 13%. Sometimes it is lower, and sometimes -;much higher. In fact, there are 28 deals for over 10 million euros, where the commission is over 50%;good work if you can manage it.
Then comes the fact that football in general is in good health. In 2011, European clubs recorded operational losses of a total of EUR 382 million, while the latest figures show operating profits of a total of 832 million.
If you look at the final losses, including a bunch of other items such as transfer revenues / expenses and taxes and fees, they went over the same period from 1, 670 million to 269 million. In fact, 70% of the Top 5 League leagues on the continent have reported final profits. Financial Fairplay regulations (introduced, this is not a coincidence in 2011) may have their drawbacks, but few can argue that they have contributed to keeping costs at low levels and turning European football clubs into industry, capable of annual growth of an average of 10%.
However, the most important conclusion of the report is the confirmation of what we have known for a long time:football is fragmented and polarized between super-boys and everyone else. Yes, most participants in the chain are in a better position, but not as much as one percent.
This happens both at macro level across Europe and in individual leagues. Take, for example, wages that, as you would expect, have a direct connection to the success of the field. There are 10 clubs with a pen salary of 221 million euros up, and up to 11th (accidentally Milan) the gap is sized with a difference of 60 million.
Can you earn EUR 60 million per wage per season to buy enough for your high-end class? For example, one Cristiano Ronaldo plus one Alexis Sanchez? Probably yes. However, the huge inequality exists within the leagues. The top 4 in England has an average wage budget nearly double more than the next four major clubs. In Italy and Germany the difference is more than twice over, and in Spain -;the amazing 3, 5 times above.
Go down the food chain and the picture becomes even more ugly. In Portugal, the three grandchildren -;Benfica, Porto and Sporting (Lisbon) -;spend an average of seven times more on salaries than the next three clubs. In Scotland, the two Celtic and Rangers are paying nearly five times more than the next two clubs.
The reason for the existence of this inequality is not particularly difficult to detect. It is due to revenue, mainly commercial. Nine clubs via contact with soccer stats receive at least 25 million euros from sponsors?
Blog of soccer stats