A study of the money earned and spent during the '11-12 season by Europe's top football leagues showed that the top leagues in both the U.K. and Germany "are more rich than Spain," according to Rodrigo Silva of EL PAIS. The Premier League led the way in profit with €2.9B, and was followed by the German Bundesliga, which earned €1.9B. Of the five leagues featured, Spain's La Liga finished third in profit with €1.8B, with the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1 earning €1.6B and €1.1B, respectively. In La Liga, top-earning clubs combined to make €1B (56%) of the total €1.8B, with the league's other 18 teams combining for just €.8B (44%). The Bundesliga and Premier League were also the leaders in attendance, with average Bundesliga attendance leading the way at 44,293, followed by the Premier League's 34,646. Average attendance at La Liga games was 26,050. The league that spent the highest percentage of its profit on player salaries was Serie A, at 75%. Ligue 1 spent 74% of profit on player salary, followed by the Premier League at 70%, La Liga at 60% and the Bundesliga at 51%. Outside of La Liga, the Premier League had the highest number of Spanish players, with 24, at a total cost of €317M, while eight Spanish players played in Serie A for a combined €23M in salary, with six Spanish players earning a total of €54M in salary in the Bundesliga (EL PAIS, 6/11).
