Top footballers share £1.8bn as Premier League pay soars

Wages in the Premier League soared 9 per cent last season with elite footballers earning a total £1.8bn, according to a report.

The earnings haul marks a steep increase on the £1.66bn players earned in the 2011/12 season and wages are set to rise further as clubs absorb an extra £600 million of TV money.

The Premier League retains its status as the world’s wealthiest domestic competition with its 20 clubs expected to earn more than £3bn of revenues in 2013/14, an annual review of football finance by accountancy firm Deloitte predicts.

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That would be an increase of almost 25 per cent on the £2.5bn they are estimated to have earned last season, itself a 5 per cent rise on the £2.4bn in 2011/12. Despite pressure on clubs to contain soaring wages, they are expected to plough around £480m of the extra TV cash into wages.

Half of the clubs in the top tier made a profit in the 2011/12 season, with clubs earning a combined £98m of operating profits – 4 per cent of total revenues.

Alan Switzer, director in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: “The Premier League clubs have agreed to a system of enhanced financial regulations, designed to improve the sustainability of its clubs.

“The successful implementation of these rules, coupled with the imminent boost to broadcast revenues, could provide huge benefits to the long-term development, growth and stability of the game and its clubs.”

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Manchester City was the best-paying club in 2011/12, with wages of £202m, while Swansea City was the lowest, handing its players £35m.

Manchester United earned the most in 2011/12, with revenues of £320m, while Wigan Athletic earned the lowest at £53m.

Aston Villa spent the biggest slice of its revenues on wages, at 94 per cent, while Norwich City spent just 49 per cent.

Premier League clubs spent an average of 70 per cent or £1.7bn of their revenues on wages in 2011/12, the report revealed.

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Clubs are set to receive an average of £73m from TV 
rights this coming season, up £25m.

Clubs in the Championship, the second tier of English football, spent 89 per cent of revenues – or £422m – on wages, up 11 per cent on the season before.

The next wealthiest league was Germany’s Bundesliga.

Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: “Despite 
operating in a challenging economic environment, 
English club football’s profile, exposure and increasingly global interest have continued to drive revenue growth for the top clubs.”