does yours Premier League Does the club need external financial support? Chances are, they’re already getting it, and you didn’t even realize it.
From next season, the league will switch from Profit and Sustainability rules (PSR) to Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) rules, marking the latest change to the financial landscape of English football. So increasing off-field revenue has never been more important to help influence on-field performance.
Whereas the PSR focused on a team’s profit or loss on all revenues over a three-year period, with a maximum loss of £105 million allowed, the SCR demands that teams limit their spending on team costs – primarily, transfer fees and wages – to 85% of their revenues. This is the same model that UEFA’s Financial Fair Play applies, although it limits spending for teams in European competitions. Champions League At 70%.
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SCR is a part of a perfect storm.
From next season, the Premier League will ban front-of-shirt advertising from betting companies. This means 11 of the 20 clubs will have to find new major sponsors for 2026-27 if the ban comes into effect. west ham united Vice President Karen Brady Claimed in House of Lords debate Said in November 2024 that the decision to ban front-of-shirt gambling advertising would “reduce their total commercial revenue by approximately 20%.”
So where can the clubs go? One answer to this is found in the use of external agencies to find new business growth opportunities. This is a common practice in American sports, but was rare in England until recently.
‘The first question is where do I fill that gap in revenue?’
Exactly half of England’s top 44 clubs – the Premier League and the second tier championship -Mostly owned by American investors. And the proliferation of American ownership has led teams to look for new ideas to find creative sponsorship deals.
The US market is still relatively untapped in terms of commercial development for the Premier League. Industry figures estimate that American brands now account for 61% of global sponsorship spend in the sport, yet only one in six European football sponsorships involves American brands.
Playfly Sports is at the forefront of this change. The sports marketing, media and technology company promotes itself as “the sports industry’s leading revenue maximizer”. The Premier League itself has partnered with an agency, while almost half of the clubs in England’s top flight now work with retained commercial agencies in some capacity, sources have told ESPN. In 2023 this figure was around 10%.
Dan Lipman, Playfly’s co-managing director, Europe, told ESPN: “The US owners involved in the Premier League also own other clubs in other sports. Playfly works for every team.” nba, mlb, nhlAnd those US owners have seen the sophistication with which we have approached those commercial revenues: the up-to-date approach, the abundance of brands and the connectivity we provide.
“It’s not an unrelated trend that as these owners invest in European football, they’re turning to agencies. Many American sports executives come to UK sports games and comment on how few brands are advertised there and how limited the activation is. In the US, it’s completely different. With the SCRs coming in and the betting being closed, the first question for people is where do I fill that gap in revenue?”
Until recently, commercial deals at most Premier League clubs were driven by personal relationships, such as chief commercial officers using their networks of contacts to deliver sponsorship deals. Compared to the modernization of player recruitment, which has shifted away from old-school scouting towards the use of analytics, data can now play a key role in business strategy, and clubs are willing to turn to external help for this job.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told ESPN: “Some Premier League clubs with big budgets have got into the habit of using external agencies to effectively outsource their desire to diversify sources of income.
“For example, Tottenham Hotspur There are more non-soccer events with full capacity stadiums than football events, so how can they structure these for revenue maximization? Advice on pricing, catering and merchandise sold by third parties – clubs won’t necessarily have experience there as this is still a relatively new addition to their arsenal of tools for maximizing revenue.”
‘The biggest brands are coming from Czech America’
last August, crystal Palace SunExpress was announced as an official airline partner, the club’s first since 1991. The deal was secured by Playfly, mimicking a strategy used in the US to bring airline brands to professional and college teams. In college footballOffers additional flights for game days as part of its partnership with Southwest Airlines secondsWhile Alaska Airlines is the official airline of big tenFour West Coast teams.
The American model is attractive because, simply, the numbers keep going up. Last October, the NFL reported Revenue growth of 14% For the previous financial year. mlb revenue Made a record of 12.1 billion dollars In 2024, while the NBA sponsorship was up 8% According to data firm SponsorUnited.
“An American owner comes in, they hire an American chief commercial officer who has done it for them in the US, who hires an American agency to help them look at media sponsorships, TV-facing signage, and there’s trust,” Lipman said. “That’s the way it’s evolving.”
Tottenham became the latest club to fit the trend when they last month appointed Alex Scorcher – previously at US-based sports agency firm Elevate – as their new commercial director. chelseaTodd Cline, commercial president of Spurs, briefly served in a similar role at Spurs, having also worked for miami dolphins; liverpoolKate Theobald was previously employed New York Yankees.
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The new SCR rules are a big issue. Maguire said: “The rule change means that clubs are allowed to spend 85% of revenue on player costs, and so there is additional pressure on them to generate additional revenue because 85% can go to player costs.”
Lippmann said: “The commercial revenue of the Big Six clubs is bigger than their broadcasting revenue. It is about 40-60% of their total revenue.
“There’s no team that isn’t looking at external sponsorship support because that can be their biggest impact. The biggest brand check is going to come from the US, and ultimately it’s a relationship-based thing.
“SCR is definitely more tied to commercial revenue because it prioritizes recurring revenue; PSR is about the profits and losses of individual years. When you look at revenue, what’s repeatable and predictable? That’s commercial revenue – multiyear and long-term partnership deals.
“When we are working with a team on a project that could provide them millions in gross top-line revenue annually, it has a significant impact on their budget for player salaries, and it will ultimately impact their ability to recruit.”
‘More ads in more places’
The Premier League’s broad profile and global exposure puts its clubs ahead of rival European leagues in accessing the US market. A commercial arms race is developing within England itself.
armory Going their own way, they are currently in the third year of what they describe as a new commercial strategy that involves attempting to double revenue from second-tier sponsorships. Last year’s financial results highlighted the renewal and expansion of their Emirates partnership and the renaming of their training base as Sobha Realty Training Centre, but their US ownership under billionaire Stan Kroenke will undoubtedly consider further Stateside options as they emerge.
Industry experts expect the American and agency-leaning commercial appointments of Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool to put those clubs on alert in that area.
So how can fans see it in the future? Mike Schreiber, executive chairman of PlayFly Sports, told ESPN: “More space for advertising — availability of inventory, whether it’s within the broadcast or inside the stadium. More advertising in more places. That’s something that exists in America and is changing here. And premium experiences for fans.
“It has spread across the US and has started in the UK. You can reduce the number of seats in a stadium and make more money. It sounds counterintuitive but creating bigger and better seats, food straight to your seat, or the hospitality sector, all these elements are areas of change where commercial agencies can thrive.”
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