Who's the best at Selling in the Deloitte Football Money League? Sales of accessories and core sales

The Beautiful Game or the beautiful business?

Time was when my brother would take me ‘down the bridge’ to watch Chelsea. The entrance price for ‘Boys’, I seem to remember was the princely sum of four shillings ( 20 p ?).

I don’t remember tickets for ordinary matches back then, but I think you paid cash at the narrow turnstiles.

The exotic players Chelsea FC had were all Scottish not the Global stars of today.

 This was of course all in the last century. The players’ shirts were plain with a club badge and no business sponsorship name. A club’s success was simply about winning trophies and scoring goals.

How times change !

The 2014 Football Money league table produced by Deloitte’s helps to keep the Accounting behemoth’s own sales’ profile high. It enables brand Deloitte to be talked about by millions of sports fans away from the usual readers of the Financial pages. Deloitte has run this table since the 1996-7 season.

The news this year - Manchester United has slipped from their 3^rd position on the 2012-3 season statistics.

It seems rather hard luck that photos of the present manager are associated with the Money league story since David Moyes was not the manager at the time for the period of the figures quoted - it was of course Sir Alex Ferguson.

But Sales grew !

Manchester United – like most clubs in the top 20 – generated more money last season, £363.2 million, than in any previous campaign, this is the first time that they have not been in the top three in the Money League.

“Whilst Manchester United drop one place in the Money League, a number of the club's recent commercial deals will boost revenue in 2013-14, so this fall to fourth place may only be temporary,” said Deloitte's Austin Houlihan.

What has come out of the story is the changing shares of revenue streams ( Sales) .

 Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme's Simon Jack that the majority of high-earning football clubs are for the first time making "more money out of commercial sources" than through television and match day revenues.

The highest sales figures come from what in other businesses might be called ‘the extras’ , add-ons, accessories, subsidiaries or non core products.

Sales evolution

Not so long ago, the primary source of sales was earned at the gates on Match day tickets, this was then superseded by TV deals and now for the first time for the top 20 clubs in Deloitte’s list it is Commercial Sources – licences, sponsorships, merchandise, partnerships, shirt deals etc.

All clubs in the Deloitte’s top 30 now generate over 100m euros in revenue each, whereas in the first list, compiled in 1996-97, only Manchester United beat this figure.

For the financial eyes, the excitement of winning trophies, matches and scoring goals of the beautiful game is now dryly described as ‘On pitch performance’.

Despite the huge contributions of commercial sales it will be important to keep one eye on the ball and the 'other eye' on profit not just sales.

 The Blues ( Chelsea FC)  are down one place to 7th  in the Deloitte table this year, the success on the pitch is one thing, financial health is another – many many four bobs ( 4/- or 20 p)

Blue is the colour

Football is our game

We’re altogether

And winning is our

So cheer us on through the wind and rain

‘Cos Chelsea , Chelsea is our name

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