Football players in UK's Premier League clubs were paid over $3.7 billion last season. annual report on football finances showed 15 per cent increase in revenue for League's 20 clubs. report is from international accountancy company Deloitte. It reported that wage bill for Premier League teams went above $3.5 billion for first time ever. The report said that almost 60 per cent of all revenue earned by the League goes towards wages. This is up from 55 per cent in 2016/17 season. The Premier League's top six clubs, which include Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, have highest wage bills in the League.
The Premier League is top level of English football leagues. It is most-watched sports league in the world. People in 212 countries and territories, in 643 million homes worldwide watch it. This means it makes lot of money from television rights and merchandising. However, the increase in wage bill has reduced the profits earned by clubs. Deloitte said: "With the emphasis now on clubs to generate revenue growth...it may be that we see levels of pre-tax profit [go down] over next few years." The teams in the lower half of the League are finding it more difficult to make profit. The bottom three teams can lose up to $130 million if they are relegated from Premier League.
