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The Economist ‏@TheEconomist Apr 3

Congratulations Real Madrid: the world’s highest-earning club for the tenth straight year http://econ.st/1CdJ37T 

Having become the first team to win the European Cup on ten occasions in 2014, Real Madrid has also claimed the title of world’s highest-earning club for the tenth straight year. According to Deloitte’s football money league the Spanish giants earned €549.5m ($745m) in the 2013-14 season. Aggregate annual revenues from the world’s 20 highest-earning clubs surpassed €6 billion for the first time, with ticket sales contributing the lowest share in the report’s 18 years. Broadcasting rights and commercial deals are becoming increasingly important; the Premier League’s lucrative television deals now mean that all 20 teams in the English division make the top 40 richest globally.

http://www.economist.com/news/economic-and-financial-indicators/21640338-football-wealth?fsrc=scn%2Ftw%2Fte%2Fpe%2Fed%2Ffootballwealth

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Amazing insight, by the Guardian, into the ludicrous earnings of agents. Football truly is big business http://gu.com/p/45993/stw

English clubs spent $87m on agents’ fees for international transfers in 2014, a $12m increase on 2013. Photograph: Sabine Scheckel/Getty Images

Owen Gibson

Wednesday 28 January 2015 00.00 GMT

Payments to agents acting on international transfers for clubs rose to £155m ($236m) in 2014 according to Fifa figures, with a booming English transfer market accounting for by far the largest slice.

The study of the market in 2014 showed that despite the introduction of Uefa’s financial fair play rules, the booming broadcast market and growing commercial opportunities enabled English clubs to carry on spending.

One in four dollars spent globally on international transfers was allocated to English clubs and more than one in three dollars paid to agents originated from England.

Payments to agents acting on behalf of clubs have risen on average 27% year on year since 2011, when the total stood at $131m.

Of an overall transfer market that broke the $4bn barrier for the first time, English clubs spent a record $1.17bn. The huge disparity in spending between the big European leagues and the rest is reflected in the fact the money spent by English clubs on overseas transfers was more than a quarter of the total.

Read more:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/28/agents-international-transfers-2014-fifa?CMP=share_btn_tw

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