8 Jun 2010English Premier League no longer world's most profitable

Football Finance News | Football Leagues/ Association and Governance

The English Premier League has been overtaken in the profitability stakes by Germany's Bundesliga, according to new figures.

Research conducted by financial firm Deloitte has revealed German clubs made profits of £146.1 million last season, dwarfing the £79 million made by English sides struggling to cope with ever-larger wage bills.

Deloitte Sport Business Group director Dan Jones said: "The wages increase is definitely something people should be concerned about and that will be even more the case when the UEFA [financial fair play] initiatives are in full swing."

England's top-flight wage bill increased to £1.3 billion last year, accounting for 67 per cent of overall turnover, with the most significant increase in player salaries seen among the 13 clubs outside the top four and the three newly-promoted teams.

Last month, a survey carried out by the Football Fans Census for the Times found 60 per cent of 5,000 football fans surveyed indicated support for the introduction of a salary cap.

Written by Terry Mitchell

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