The Championship is the sixth richest league in Europe, a new report has revealed.
Clubs in England’s second tier had combined revenues of £749m in 2017/18, according to the latest Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance.
Only five top flights across Europe have larger revenues than that: the Premier League (£4.8bn), the Bundesliga (£2.79bn), La Liga (£2.71bn), Serie A (£1.96bn) and Ligue 1 (£1.49bn).
It means Championship clubs bring in more money between them than clubs in the top flights of Russia (£717m), Turkey (£645m) and the Netherlands (£437m).
Championship clubs with parachute payments are earning twice as much as those without them on average. Those without the payments had average revenues of £21m in 2017/18.
That’s less than half the £51m average revenue for those receiving parachute payments. The report comes with a health warning for Championship clubs.
Wages made up 106 per cent of revenue in 2017/18, up from 99 per cent the season before. It shows the financial risks Championship clubs are willing to take in order to chase promotion to the Premier League.
Sam Boor, senior manager in the Deloitte Sports Business Group, said: “Despite increased revenues, controlling costs remains the biggest challenge for Championship clubs.”
[Richest leagues by revenue, plus Championship]
League // Revenue
- Premier League // €5.44bn (£4.80bn)
- Bundesliga // €3.168bn (£2.79bn)
- La Liga // €3.073bn (£2.71bn)
- Serie A // €2.22bn (£1.96bn)
- Ligue 1 // €1.69bn (£1.49bn)
- Championship // €849m (£749m)
- Russian Premier League // €813m (£717m)
- Turkish Super Lig // €731m (£645m)
- Dutch Eredivisie // €495m (£437m)
- Portugal Primeira Liga // €431m (£380m)
- Scottish Premiership // (€233m) (£206m)
