Relationship between sport and financial performance in top European football clubs

Abstract

The Champions League has been the most elite football competition in Europe for several decades. Achieving sports successes makes it much easier for football clubs participating in the Champions League games to have very good financial results, which allow them to spend significant amounts on the purchase of players and their salaries. The total market value of the players in some teams exceeded 1 billion EUR in the 2018/2019 season. In the article the relationship between financial results and sports results in national and international competitions in the seasons 2014/2015–2018/2019 is verified. The efficiency of the football clubs under investigation is verified using a model developed by the author of the article. In addition, dynamics of changes in profits, expenditure on salaries and operating activities as well as the market value of selected European football clubs is presented. The results of the analysis allow to identify football clubs whose activities are characterized by the highest efficiency. Both the market value of the players and the expenses on their salaries have a significant, positive impact on sports performance. However, among the leading European football clubs one can distinguish those that functioned much more effectively than their competitors. Sports successes contribute to increasing the market value of players, but also involve the need to allocate larger amounts to players’ wages.