Premier League football clubs made their "first collective profit in 15 years last season," according to Kadhim Shubber of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Clubs "kept a lid on wages to avoid falling foul of rules designed to curb the spending of wealthy owners." The 20 teams in the world's "most commercially successful football league" made a combined pre-tax profit for the first time since the '98-99 season, "helped by the first year of revenues" from a £3B, three-year TV rights deal signed in '12. Pre-tax profits of £190M in the '13-14 season were "almost four times higher than the previous record" of £49M in '97-98 and are the "first step towards clawing back" £2.6B of losses made over the past decade. The figures -- compiled by Deloitte, using the clubs' financial statements -- showed that wage costs as a proportion of revenues "fell to their lowest level" since the '98-99 season. Deloitte Sports Business Group partner Dan Jones said that last season was a "transformative moment" that showed Premier League clubs could "keep a grip on costs while still attracting top players." Jones: "You can afford to compete on talent and still have money left at the bottom line" (FT, 3/26). In London, Owen Gibson reported while the figures do not "factor in the debt carried by clubs, they appear to show" that new rules introduced by UEFA and the Premier League to curb excessive overspending are "having some effect." Deloitte Sports Business Group senior consultant Adam Bull said, "The introduction of cost control regulations at both a European and domestic level has caused many clubs to watch their spending more closely than ever before and created a useful tool for clubs to reduce the inflationary pressures during negotiations with players and agents" (GUARDIAN, 3/25). Also in London, Henry Winter reported the clubs "will decide next autumn where they will target the £1B+." The FA will hope the EPL invests in Chair Greg Dyke's £230M ($342M) scheme for 3G "hubs" in urban areas. Scudamore refused to say whether or not he would snub the hubs, preferring to focus on his organization's "long-term contributions to grass-roots' facilities" (TELEGRAPH, 3/26). In London, Tom Peck reported Deloitte's figures show that last season Premier League players' wages rose by 6% in total, from £1.8B to £1.9B, while overall revenue at the 20 clubs increased by 29% (INDEPENDENT, 3/25).
'NO SIGN OF ENDING': BLOOMBERG's Alex Duff wrote the report "came out on the same day fans rallied in London calling for teams to cut ticket prices." Of the 20 clubs' pre-tax profit of £190M for the year ended in June, Jones said, "The revenue increases show no sign of ending." He added that teams "can now be reasonably profitable businesses as well as trophy assets" (BLOOMBERG, 3/25).
