Premier League clubs to top NFL TV earnings by 2017 - UEFA report

The Premier League is set to overtake the NFL as the
highest-earning sporting league in the world in terms of
media income by 2017, according to UEFA.
UEFA's club licensing benchmarking report for
2014 says that European club football finances are
"significantly healthier" in 2014 as opposed to 2011, and
that European club football revenues equal 80 percent of
the four major U.S. Sports combined -- NFL, MLB, NBA
and NHL.
The Premier League signed a new £5.136 billion
($7.8bn) British TV rights deal in February this year for
the upcoming 2016-19 seasons, and UEFA reports that
a "conservative increase" in international rights later this
year could see English clubs surpass the media rights
figures of NFL franchises in 2017.
The report reads: "European clubs balance sheets are
significantly healthier in 2014 than when the break-even
requirements started in 2011, Club net equity, which
represents the clubs' assets less all debts and liabilities,
has increased by 50 percent from €3.3bn to €4.9bn.
"The massive additional 70 percent uplift in domestic
live rights recently announced for Premier League clubs
combined with UEFA club competition increases will
take annual Premier League club media rights to at
least €151m before any increase in international rights,
which are due to be negotiated later in 2015.
"A conservative 30 percent increase in these
international rights would mean total media rights per
club would reach €165m, allowing the Premier league
club average to surpass the average media rights of NFL
franchises.
"With TV rights across the five largest European league
increasing by an average of 25 percent each cycle, it is
possible that the average TV rights of clubs from the
other larger European leagues could approach the level
of NBL and MLB franchises by the time their next
national media deals start."
Europe's football elite catching USA's 'Big 4' in earnings.
https://t.co/bf5QJ7U1Ey pic.twitter.com/jyaM1Oc2PP
- sportingintelligence (@sportingintel) October 21, 2015
The Premier League's collective annual TV income of
€1.92bn is over double that of Europe's next best
league, with Italy's Serie A hitting €888m.
The number of European clubs with an income of
over €100m per year also grew from 24 in 2009 to 45
at the end of 2014.
While Manchester United are the only Premier League
side in the top five -- second to Real Madrid, but ahead
of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-German --
12 of the 30 richest European clubs by income are from
England.
Premier League clubs generate €195.3m in revenues on
average (€3.9bn aggregate), compared to San Marino,
where the 15 clubs generate an average €0.1m
(aggregate €1.8m).
Clubs in the Premier League also make more from ticket
sales per year than any other European league, with
average takings of €34.3m (aggregate €685m)
compared to the next-best Bundesliga with €26.3
(€474m).
Bayern fans protested at ticket prices for the opening
five minutes of Tuesday's Champions League match
against Arsenal in North London.
Banners in the away section declaring "£64 a ticket but
without fans football is not worth a penny" were
applauded by home supporters when the Bayern fans
eventually took their seats for the 2-0 defeat.
Premier League clubs also have six of the 13 top-
paying teams in Europe -- Real Madrid lead the findings,
with Man United (second), Manchester City (fourth),
Chelsea (sixth), Arsenal (eighth), Liverpool (10th) and
Tottenham (13th).