Premier League Clubs' Combined Losses Jump 600% to £948m, Deloitte Finds

Premier League clubs posted combined pre-tax losses of £948 million in the 2024-25 season, up from £135 million the year before, according to Deloitte's Annual Review of Football Finance, published July 8 (deloitte.com). That's a rise of more than 600 percent in a single year.

Where the money actually went

Deloitte attributed the jump primarily to transfer spending and the absence of the large one-off player-sale profits that had padded the previous season's numbers (espn.com). Only eight clubs reported an operating profit in 2024-25, down from 13 the season before, per Deloitte's own report. Net debt across the league climbed to £3.6 billion, up from £3.5 billion.

The revenue was still up

The losses came in a season where the league made more money than ever. Aggregate Premier League revenue rose 8 percent to a record £6.8 billion, the highest of any of Europe's big five leagues, with matchday income passing £1 billion for the first time and commercial revenue up 13 percent, Euronews reported. Deloitte expects revenue to top £7 billion in 2025-26, helped by a new domestic broadcast deal, but has warned growth is likely to slow or reverse in the years after that.

It's worse further down the pyramid

Championship clubs saw revenue fall 2 percent to £942 million, the division's first drop since the pandemic, while pre-tax losses there rose 12 percent to £355 million. Only three of the 24 Championship clubs turned a profit, Euronews reported.

Deloitte's warning

"Football cannot rely on simply adding more content to deliver sustainable growth," Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte's Sports Business Group, said, per Euronews, pointing to an already saturated fixture calendar. Bridge separately noted that "external funding is now critical to liquidity in the vast majority of cases" across England's three lower professional divisions, as reported by ESPN.