Football finances

The substantial increases in income enjoyed by top-level football clubs in recent years, coupled with the resultant benefits gained by elite players, have resulted in a markedly increased emphasis on the business of football. Indeed financial performance has become one of the dominant narratives about football, with regular commentary on financial success or failure at both league and club level. This chapter begins with an overview of information available about football finance, identifying academic, professional and new media sources. It continues with an analysis of the financial state of professional football, focusing both on its impressive high-level revenue figures but also on financial challenges faced by some of its leagues and clubs. This provides the context for a discussion on the theoretical case for financial regulation in professional football, and on financial regulation in practice, specifically the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)‘s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. The chapter concludes with a section on political consequences of FFP.