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The European Club Football Landscape report
said revenues among Europe's 700-odd top-flight clubs totaled
18.5 billion euros ($22.7 billion) for 2016, compared to 16.9
billion the year before and 2.8 billion in 1996.
However, the report acknowledged that nearly half that amount -
9.1 billion euros - was generated by 30 clubs and that the
financial gap between the elite ones and the rest was
increasing.
English Premier League television revenues were now such that
mid-table Bournemouth earned the same as three-times European
champions Inter Milan.
United's revenue for 2016 was 689 million euros, compared to 521
million euros in 2015, the report said.
United were followed by Barcelona and Real Madrid (both 620
million), Bayern Munich (592 million), Paris St Germain (542
million) and Manchester City (533 million).
United's operating profit of 232 million euros was also the
highest followed by Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and
City.
United was also burdened with the highest net debt of 561
million euros, ahead of Benfica, Inter Milan, Juventus and
Liverpool.
The report confirmed that the English Premier League enjoys by
far the highest revenues in Europe, averaging 244.4 million
euros per club.
Next was Germany's Bundesliga with 149.6 million per club
followed by Spain (126.3 million) and Italy (100.2 million)
Revenues fell dramatically elsewhere, even in traditional
football nations such as the Netherlands (26.7 million) and
Portugal (20.3 million).
Greek clubs earned an average of 8.9 million euros while figures
for Eastern Europe were even lower at 5 million euros for
Hungary, 4.4 million for Czech Republic and 1.5 million for
Slovenia.
"Once more, we cannot help but note that the polarization of
commercial and sponsorship revenues between the top tier of
clubs and the rest is accelerating," UEFA President Aleksander
Ceferin said.
"As the guardians of the game, UEFA must ensure that football
remains competitive even as financial gaps are augmented by
globalization and technological change."
UEFA analyst Sefton Perry said that "only a limited number of
clubs are able to fully exploit the enormous commercial
opportunities offered by the global market".
Sixteen of the top 20 clubs in terms of domestic broadcast
revenues were English with Manchester United top on 146 million,
edging out Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Bournemouth earned 99 million euros, level with Inter Milan who,
along with Juventus, were the only Serie A side in the top 20.
The report confirmed that transfer spending reached record
levels of almost 5.6 billion euros in the European summer of
2017, including six of the top 20 most expensive transfers ever
recorded.
Arsenal were the club who made the most from paying fans. UEFA
said their yield of 97.8 euros per spectator was the highest in
Europe, followed by Chelsea, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern
Munich, Manchester United, Barcelona, Galatasaray, Manchester
City and West Ham United.
(This version of the story was corrected to say billion in the
third paragraph)
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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