How English football clubs make money
Every club's turnover split four ways: matchday (gate receipts), commercial (sponsorship + retail), broadcast (TV rights), and player trading (profit on sales). Pulled from the Turnover note in each club's audited accounts.
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£279m broadcast (35.2%) £340m commercial (43%) £75m matchday (9.5%) £95m player trading (12%) £2.8m other (0.4%)
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£264m broadcast (34.3%) £323m commercial (42.1%) £116m matchday (15%) £53m player trading (6.9%) £13m other (1.7%)
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£271m broadcast (42.1%) £261m commercial (40.6%) £111m matchday (17.2%) £454k player trading (0.1%)
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£166m broadcast (27.6%) £272m commercial (45.4%) £162m matchday (27%)
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£127m broadcast (21.8%) £277m commercial (47.5%) £126m matchday (21.7%) £53m player trading (9%) £385k other (0.1%)
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£203m broadcast (41.4%) £201m commercial (40.9%) £87m matchday (17.7%)
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£161m broadcast (50.2%) £108m commercial (33.8%) £51m matchday (15.9%)
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£148m broadcast (51.4%) £25m commercial (8.6%) £6.7m matchday (2.3%) £91m player trading (31.6%) £17m other (6%)
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£151m broadcast (68.1%) £22m commercial (10.1%) £28m matchday (12.5%) £20m other (9.3%)
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£132m broadcast (62.3%) £41m commercial (19.5%) £39m matchday (18.2%)
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£129m broadcast (65.7%) £24m commercial (12.4%) £20m matchday (10.3%) £23m other (11.6%)
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£142m broadcast (72.4%) £31m commercial (15.6%) £16m matchday (8%) £8.0m other (4.1%)
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£117m broadcast (63.7%) £47m commercial (25.3%) £20m matchday (11%)
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£129m broadcast (71.2%) £34m commercial (18.9%) £18m matchday (9.9%)
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£126m broadcast (73%) £25m commercial (14.3%) £22m matchday (12.7%)
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£115m broadcast (72.8%) £21m commercial (13.2%) £20m matchday (12.5%) £2.4m other (1.5%)
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£1.6m broadcast (1.8%) £58m commercial (63.5%) £32m matchday (34.7%)
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£56m broadcast (66.8%) £4.5m commercial (5.3%) £6.1m matchday (7.3%) £17m player trading (20.5%) £68k other (0.1%)
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£58m broadcast (73%) £3.0m commercial (3.8%) £13m matchday (16.5%) £5.3m other (6.7%)
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£12m broadcast (19.3%) £14m commercial (22%) £11m matchday (17.2%) £23m player trading (37.7%) £2.3m other (3.8%)
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£3.5m broadcast (7%) £22m commercial (43%) £10m matchday (20.3%) £14m player trading (28.1%) £801k other (1.6%)
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£13m broadcast (30.3%) £11m commercial (25.6%) £6.8m matchday (16%) £9.2m player trading (21.8%) £2.6m other (6.3%)
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£11m broadcast (33.2%) £20m commercial (60%) £2.3m player trading (6.7%)
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£13m broadcast (40.5%) £6.9m commercial (21.5%) £5.9m matchday (18.6%) £6.1m player trading (19.1%) £128k other (0.4%)
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£12m broadcast (37.4%) £10m commercial (32.3%) £5.7m matchday (18%) £3.9m other (12.3%)
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£8.4m commercial (31.9%) £18m matchday (68.1%)
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£12m broadcast (48.5%) £7.2m commercial (30.3%) £4.5m matchday (18.8%) £544k other (2.3%)
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£2.4m broadcast (12.7%) £3.0m commercial (15.5%) £4.3m matchday (22.1%) £9.5m player trading (49.2%) £102k other (0.5%)
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£12m broadcast (62.3%) £1.7m commercial (8.8%) £5.4m matchday (28.4%) £83k other (0.4%)
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£825k broadcast (6.6%) £2.3m commercial (18.2%) £3.4m matchday (27.1%) £5.8m player trading (46.4%) £210k other (1.7%)
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£3.5m broadcast (33.2%) £3.6m commercial (33.8%) £3.5m matchday (32.9%)
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£2.5m broadcast (24%) £3.8m commercial (36.1%) £3.8m matchday (36.2%) £271k player trading (2.6%) £122k other (1.2%)
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£2.1m commercial (22.9%) £5.9m matchday (64.6%) £1.1m other (12.5%)
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£2.3m broadcast (26.8%) £1.9m commercial (22.5%) £2.9m matchday (33.6%) £1.4m other (17%)
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£169k broadcast (2%) £2.1m commercial (25.3%) £3.9m matchday (46.7%) £2.1m other (26%)
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£6.3m commercial (76%) £2.0m matchday (24%)
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£1.8m broadcast (24.6%) £4.7m commercial (65.2%) £743k matchday (10.2%)
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£2.3m broadcast (32.3%) £1.6m commercial (21.7%) £2.1m matchday (29.1%) £1.2m other (16.9%)
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£2.9m broadcast (44.6%) £2.7m commercial (41.4%) £903k matchday (14.1%)
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£2.2m broadcast (36.7%) £1.0m commercial (16.8%) £2.1m matchday (34.9%) £606k player trading (9.9%) £103k other (1.7%)
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£137k broadcast (2.4%) £2.8m commercial (49.7%) £2.3m matchday (40.9%) £400k other (7%)
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£23k broadcast (0.5%) £1.8m matchday (36.5%) £251k player trading (5%) £2.9m other (58.1%)
How English football clubs actually make money
Broadcast is the biggest line for almost every Premier League club. The PL splits ~£3bn of TV money per season between the 20 clubs roughly equally, with merit and facility payments stacked on top. Champions League clubs pile UEFA prize money in here too. For clubs outside the PL, broadcast falls off a cliff: Championship clubs get ~£10m, L1 ~£1m, L2 less.
Commercial is sponsorship + retail + merchandise + hospitality. This is where the big-six pull away: shirt deals worth £80m+ for Man City and Liverpool, training-kit deals, regional partners. Lower-league clubs have nominal commercial income.
Matchday is ticket sales + corporate hospitality + matchday catering. Bigger for clubs with bigger stadiums (Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs) and a less variable line through the season. For lower-league clubs, matchday is often the biggest single component.
Player trading = profit on player sales (the gain over their book value). Brighton's whole model — they bought Caicedo for £4m, sold for £115m, the £100m+ profit lands here. Most clubs declare this separately because it's lumpy by definition.
Source: parsed from the Turnover note in each club's iXBRL / paper accounts. Refreshed when new accounts are filed. Some smaller clubs lump these categories together and we don't split a lumped figure — they show only the total.
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