For €10 in revenue, over 25% of European clubs spent €12 in 2012

Costs for the 728 clubs of European top divisions reached €15.2bn in 2011-12 (or 2012 for championships based on the calendar year), according to the Sixth European Club Licensing Benchmarking Report, published by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) on 17/04/2014.

European clubs' total operating costs (player and employee costs, plus other operating expenses) amounted to €14.2bn, or €110m more than their cumulative revenues (€14.1bn in 2012); their operating loss margin was 1%. To this sum must be added €600m in net transfer expenditures (expenditure minus revenue from transfers) and net non-operating expenses of €400m. In total, the net margin of European top division clubs was -8%.

201 clubs, or 26.7% of first division clubs, recorded a negative net margin of over 20% in 2012, meaning that for €10 of revenue, these clubs spent at least €12. In total, 399 clubs, or nearly 55% of clubs, showed a negative net margin in 2012. Only 44 clubs, representing 6% of the sample, showed a positive margin of greater than 20%.

If the results of clubs were combined in their leagues…