Barcelona top the Deloitte Money League but still face financial peril
The Athletic FC Podcast
The Athletic
4.0 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 28 January 2021
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mark Chapman and The Athletic's Matt Slater assess the current state of football's financial landscape as the effects of the pandemic start to take a greater hold on the game.
We speak to Deloitte's Tim Bridge after the firm published their annual money league this week with Barcelona sitting at the top on revenues of £627 million, but in the very same week we've seen headlines in Spain suggesting Barca are on the bring of bankruptcy.
So how can a club that makes so much money be in so much debt? How badly have clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs felt the pinch as we approach a year without fans in stadiums?
We're also joined by Roger Bell and John Purcell from football finance analysts Vysble to look at the bigger picture for football's uncertain financial future. What do the creeping levels of American investment in English football mean for the future of our game? Does it all just lead us back to the eternally looming prospect of a European super league?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic |
| 0:02.7 | Hello, I'm Mark Chalm and welcome to the Business of Sport podcast on The Athletic. |
| 0:11.5 | Each week we're going to take you behind the curtain into the world of football business and other sports across the globe. |
| 0:17.1 | Alongside me today from The Athletic's football news reporter Matt Slater. |
| 0:22.1 | Barcelona facing bankruptcy. |
| 0:23.9 | European football stands to lose 8.5 billion euros due to COVID. |
| 0:29.2 | Losses triple at Brighton. |
| 0:31.2 | There are just few of the headlines that we've seen this week. |
| 0:33.4 | As the financial effects of the pandemic really start to hit home in football? |
| 0:38.6 | How could a club like Barcelona be in financial crisis while still topping the latest Deloitte Money League? |
| 0:45.3 | Will football ride out this latest crisis or will the bubble finally burst? |
| 0:50.1 | Welcome to the business of sport from the Athletic. |
| 0:53.0 | Right now then you can subscribe to the Athletic for just £3.99 a month. |
| 0:57.1 | That way you'll get the great analysis, the in-depth features from the very best football writers around, |
| 1:02.1 | and add free versions of all of our podcast. |
| 1:05.5 | So just head to theathletic.com slash Ornstein and Chapman to sign up. |
| 1:44.2 | This is your favourite time of year, isn't it? Matt, Money League reports, club's annual accounts coming out, left, right and centre? You're like a pig in the proverbial. I know, it's very tricky because it comes off to Christmas where I get like a load of the lazy Christmas present. I get a load of books that just pile up on my bedside table. And then I'm like, oh, actually, sorry, I've got to read the Deloitte money list anyway. And club accounts. So, yeah, this is my favourite season of the year, account season. And I know there's that old joke about in football, you shouldn't have an open-top parade for a good set of accounts. But I disagree. I would definitely have an open top parade for all those years when Arsenal weren't winning |
| 1:49.0 | anything but had really good accounts. |
| 1:51.2 | Definitely get a part of the back from me. |
| 1:53.5 | Let's so you could probably guess the opposite ends of the scale that were coming from on this. |
| 2:00.4 | Deloitte released their 24th edition of their annual Football Money League this week, |
| 2:05.5 | estimating that the 20 highest revenue-generating clubs and world football |
... |
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