Despite Record Income, EPL Clubs Lost More Than $566M In '10-11

The EPL’s 20 clubs collectively lost $566.3M (all figures U.S.) in '10-11, “after spending all of their record” $3.6B income, according to David Conn of the GUARDIAN. Of the clubs in the EPL in ‘10-11, the year of most clubs' latest published accounts, “eight made a profit.” Eleven clubs sustained losses totaling $718.5M, with Manchester City losing $309M, “the greatest financial loss in the history of football.” Chelsea, bankrolled by Owner Roman Abramovich, “lost the next highest amount” at $106.7M. Liverpool, “documenting the first eight months of ownership by John Henry's Fenway Sports Group,” lost $76.9M. The clubs' combined deficit is “partly the result of the first year of the Premier League's 2010-13 TV deals,” in which a record $2.3B was earned from overseas broadcasters. The financial figures “portray a league of fierce sporting competition which relentlessly forces up players' wages” (GUARDIAN, 5/24).