The recent financial accounts for the 2024-25 European soccer season highlight a broken system with staggering losses at many clubs. The worst offender was the Premier League, the unquestioned best soccer league in the world.
The 20 EPL clubs collectively lost $1.05 billion before interest and taxes, led by Chelsea at an EPL-record $346 million deficit. The figure would have been worse if not for some creative accounting, such as Newcastle United’s $176 million sale of its St. James Park stadium to a related entity of its ownership, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The one-time asset sale flipped Newcastle from a nine-figure loss to a $58 million gain. Only four teams finished the season in the black
Yet, as Sportico surveyed investors and bankers over the past month to compile a ranking of the world’s 50 most valuable soccer clubs, one country dominated as the most appealing: England. TV is the lifeblood for most major sports leagues, and no one can touch the Premier League, with its international broadcast rights worth more than the other four of the Big Five European leagues combined, as well as unmatched domestic rights worth $2.3 billion per year.
As a result, 16 EPL clubs cracked the top 50 of our rankings, with two others finishing just outside; that’s up from 14 last year and nine in 2024. Six of the top 10 most valuable clubs were in England.
