Deloitte warns uncertainty over English football regulator hampering investment

Club football 'under strain' from lack of clarity around how it will be regulated, says accounting giant

Liverpool's Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah celebrates with the 2024-25 Premier League trophy. AFP

The English football system is “under strain” and a lack of clarity around how it will be regulated in the future is “unhelpful” to would-be investors, according to a new report.

Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues generated more than €20 billion (£16.9 billion, $22.8 billion) for the first time in season 2023-24, Deloitte’s latest Annual Review of Football Finance found, with Premier League clubs reporting aggregate revenue of £6.3 billion ($8.5 billion).

An independent regulator for England’s top five leagues is set to be created by the Football Governance Bill after it has completed its progress through the UK Parliament, but concerns remain – particularly at top-flight level – about the impact of regulation on the league’s growth potential and ability to attract fresh investment.

Ipswich Town's Portman Road will not host Premier League action for the foreseeable future after the club's relegation. Getty Images

Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte Sports Business Group, also believes issues around the competitiveness of the Premier League must be addressed.

“There can be no doubt that the system in English football is under strain,” he wrote in the foreword to the report published on Thursday. “Repeated reports of fan unrest at ticket price and accessibility demonstrate the challenge in the modern era of balancing commercial growth with the historic essence of a football club’s role and position in society: as a community asset.

“We still await the output of the Independent Football Regulator to fully understand how this may impact the game in England, but it is clear that the way in which the game is governed and the regulation that underpins it needs to seek to drive value, fan engagement (both physical and digital) and competitive balance.

“The two most recent seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25) underscore the challenge, as in each season all three clubs promoted from the Championship were subsequently relegated after just one season in the Premier League.

“The financial implications of the ‘yo-yo effect’ on clubs, their spending and overall competitiveness are major factors to address in order to continue attracting high levels of investment across the system.

“This should though be viewed by all those running the game as an opportunity. The level of interest and the demand to engage with English football remains high and investors still see the opportunity, particularly when there is a strong community link or adjacent investment opportunities, but the lack of clarity over the future regulatory regime is now unhelpful.”

Mr Bridge noted other top leagues are closely observing how the English regulator takes shape, highlighting an economic report by Spain’s LaLiga in 2022-23 which welcomed the introduction of a regulator in England to help contain inflationary pressure on wages and other football spending.

The Deloitte report again illustrated how far ahead the Premier League is of its ‘Big Five’ rivals, with its aggregate revenue almost double that of the next highest earner LaLiga – whose clubs generated a combined €3.8 billion in 2023-24.