JF Sports Consulting was happy to support Soccerex with the production of the “Soccerex FOOTBALL FINANCE 100, 20202 Edition”.
WHAT YOU WILL FIND IN THE REPORT?
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) is the club with the greatest financial power in world football according to the Soccerex Football Finance 100, the annual report from football business experts Soccerex, which uses bespoke methodology to evaluate and rank the world’s top 100 clubs according to their finances.
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The 2020 edition sees the Parisian club overtake Manchester City for the first time in the report’s three-year history with a Football Finance Index (FFI) score of 5.318, which factors in five key financial variables – playing assets, tangible assets, cash in the bank, potential owner investment and net debt. Manchester City, who have topped all previous rankings, were second with an FFI score of 5.197.
The position of both clubs at the top of the report stems largely from the vast financial resources of their respective Middle Eastern owners, which in both cases has allowed them to amass immensely valuable playing squads – both total over €1bn in combined value – and has transformed the clubs’ fortunes, turning them into leading players amongst the global elite.
PSG have leapfrogged Manchester City due to an improved level of financial management that has allowed them to increase their cash reserves and reduce debt levels, through a combination of player sales and support from their Qatari owners, who extended the share capital of the club to €316m. The annual increase in PSG’s cash reserves was five times the increase in Manchester City’s, but the biggest change was in terms of debt, where PSG managed a €70m reduction while Man City’s debt levels increased by more than €90m.
Bayern Munich are third with an FFI score of 3.888 in a top 10 which is dominated by Premier League teams with Tottenham 4th (3.441), Arsenal 6th (3.150), Chelsea 7th (2.893) and Liverpool 8th (2.616). Real Madrid 5th (3.336), Juventus 9th (2.195) and Borussia Dortmund 10th (2.154) make up the rest of the top 10.
One Premier League club conspicuous by their absence in the top 10 is Manchester United. Despite having dominated English football for two decades, United rank 16th in the report – a fall of eight places from last year – with an FFI score of 1.743. The club continue to successfully leverage their global brand to generate significant revenues – they ranked 3rd behind the two Spanish giants in Deloitte’s recent revenue based report – but this only tells part of the story and, over 12 months, the Red Devils have experienced a depreciation in squad value, tangible assets and cash levels plus an increase in debt. The club have lost ground on both of their biggest regional rivals and it is interesting to note that Liverpool have now overtaken United in our report, as well as in the league.
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