Member Article

FFP regulations see Premier League clubs make record £3.4bn

Premier League football clubs are making more money than ever before after it has been revealed that in the 2014/15 season, the league’s 20 teams generated a record £3.4bn in turnover.

A combination of financial prudence as a result of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, as well as bumper TV and prize money deals, has unleashed a transformation on the balance sheets of all the teams in England’s top league.

FFP, which was introduced in 2013, ensures that clubs live within their means through a range of financial rules which all clubs are beholden to follow, and face disciplinary action from governing body UEFA if they are breached.

These include, capping a club’s losses at £35m a year if they are bankrolled by a wealthy owner like Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, capping the level at which clubs can spend the new TV income on player’s wages and stricter rules on sponsorship deals and other arrangements.

Now, research by the Guardian has underlined the huge, and immediate, impact this has had on the financial workings of the country’s biggest football clubs.

In the final pre-FFP season, debt-ridden clubs with spiralling wage bills made a combined overall loss of £291m despite big television deals and commercial income.

However, by 2014/15, the latest year where full figures are available, this had jumped to combined profits of £113m derived from the record £3.4bn of income, undermined only by losses before tax at Aston Villa (-£28m), Chelsea (-£34m), Sunderland (-£25m) and QPR (-£46m).

The eye-watering income level is only going to increase in coming seasons, with a new £8bn mega TV deal kicking in next season, and FFP regulations having been renewed for another three years, Premier League clubs are about to be propelled into a whole new league of untold wealth.