The Role of Stadiums in Football Clubs' Revenue

Football, also known as Association Football or Soccer is a popular game. Comprising of easy to decipher rules, this game can be played almost anywhere, from official football playing fields (pitches) to gymnasiums, streets, school playgrounds, parks, or beaches.

The history of Football dates back to the 19th century. During the medieval period, folk football was prominent and was played in towns and villages according to local customs with minimal rules. The development of modern football is closely tied to processes of industrialisation and urbanisation and this indeed gave rise to the Football League which enabled multiple teams worldwide to compete against each other from 1888 onward.

Today, Football is one of the best-loved games which is enjoyed by a great number of players across the globe owing to its simple rules, engaging teams and clubs.

How are Football Clubs Benefitted?

Every Football lover ponders as to how do the football clubs manage to pay the players and staff such an enormous sum which we happen to read in the news and magazines. Are they true? Well, let me tell you that these football clubs make a sufficient amount of money to pay the players twice the amount they demand. Here is how:

Broadcasting Rights

The Domestic and Foreign Broadcasting stations bid for rights to broadcast live football matches to millions of football fans all over the world. For instance, in the United Kingdom, Sky Sports and BT Sports own rights to cover the Premier League. The money received by them is shared among the clubs, equally. The sum roughly amounts to 81 million pounds per club and this is exclusively from the deals received in the U.K alone.

On the other hand, in China, there are around 20 broadcasters who hold the rights to cover the same Premier League and there are 100 broadcasters worldwide for the same. They pay huge cash to cover these matches. Now you can imagine the extent to which the football clubs are profited.

Match Day Revenue

When a football team plays in their own stadium, they sell tickets to every individual who enters the stadium on the day of the match. The size of a football clubs stadium and the ticket price determines how much the club makes on the match day. In the Premier League, each team plays 19 times. Now you can estimate as to why the football clubs aim at building bigger stadiums and expand the sitting capacity of the existing ones.

Did you know?

Manchester United's home ground - Old Trafford is the biggest stadium in the league, with a capacity of 74,994. Arsenal football club sells the most expensive match day ticket at £95.50 per head.

Sponsorship

The various brands pay a huge amount of money to the football clubs to advertise them. For example, Chevrolet pays Manchester United roughly 50 million pounds per year to have their logo and name on United Jersey. Also, Adidas pays United 75 million pounds per year to sponsor the kits. And these are just two sponsors of a club. Out from sports brands, there are offline and live dealer casinos out there who sponsor both the players and the stadium. You might have seen those advertisement strips playing in stadium advertisement boards. There are many others globally.

Merchandise

Football clubs also earn a huge sum by selling kits and other club merchandise to fans around the world. It is common to find shops that sell football Jerseys around stadiums, or even club owned stores that sell club Merchandise.

Transfers

Selling players to other clubs is another source of income for the football clubs. The small clubs which constitute a pool of amazing young talents make massive profits by selling them off to bigger clubs at mind-boggling prices. Some football clubs include sell-on clauses in such deals, which creates an avenue for parent clubs to make money when the player is sold again.

Prize Money

The football clubs also take part in different competitions at the beginning of a football season. In England's top flight league, clubs play the domestic Premier League, then the F.A Cup and another domestic cup competition. If a club happens to be a part of the top four of the previous season, they qualify for another competition which is the UEFA Champions League. If they finish two spots behind the top four, they qualify for the Europa League. Each competition comes with its own prize money. The sooner they finish the League table, the bigger the prize money and the more competitions they win, the more the prize money.

The above discussions make it crystal-clear as to how the football clubs end up in earning a substantial sum from various mediums associated with Football. So, next time, you come across a club, you are definitely aware of its role and function.