Insights - Football Benchmark

Breaking into the Premier League’s “Big 6”: Are challengers changing the competitive landscape on and off the pitch?

Over the past decade, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur have been the league’s sporting and financial powerhouses. They have dominated domestic performance, secured the majority of UEFA Champions League places, and built global commercial brands. Yet the environment around them has evolved. Rising broadcast revenues have strengthened competitiveness beyond the elite, Profitability and Sustainability Rules have placed greater emphasis on sustainable models, and UEFA competition expansion has created new revenue opportunities once reserved mainly for the top. Challenger clubs have begun to break through and punch above their weight on the pitch, but the question is whether these performances can translate into sustained strength off it. This week’s analysis looks at league performance, European qualifications, commercial strength, and squad values to assess the extent to which challengers are reshaping the landscape and whether their breakthroughs mark a lasting rebalancing or remain episodic.

Assessing the landscape of Portugal’s key football hubs

Portugal has long played an outsized role in European football. The country has established itself as one of the game’s most important talent pathways, combining world-class youth development with a proven track record in player trading and international visibility. A combination of strong domestic talent, ties with South America and Africa, a regulatory framework that allows unrestricted non-EU recruitment, and relatively low operating costs has made Portugal a focal point for investors and operators. Professional football is more concentrated here than almost anywhere else in Europe. Two hubs - Lisbon and the northern hub of Porto, Braga, and Guimarães - account for 75% of all clubs across the top two divisions. This clustering has created a unique ecosystem, where opportunities and risks coexist in equal measure. For investors and operators, understanding the dynamics of these hubs is critical to identifying the right opportunities in one of European football’s most distinctive markets.

Who leads Europe’s clubs? CEO profiles and pathways across the “Big Five” Leagues

Modern football is shaped as much in the boardroom as on the pitch. At the centre of this transformation is the CEO, the figure tasked with steering clubs through the complexities of global finance, commercial growth, and sporting ambition. Once dominated by chairmen or part-time directors, club leadership has professionalised, and the CEO role has become central to how ownership vision is translated into day-to-day action and long-term strategy. Our analysis looks at the CEO landscape across the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1, with a focus on average tenure, professional backgrounds, and career pathways. The findings reveal that average tenure underlines the CEO position as one of greater stability and seniority, that commercial expertise now outpaces football-specific knowledge, and that prior experience within clubs is the single most important attribute for the role.

Profitability in football: Lessons from Europe’s most profitable clubs

Clubs at every level are now operating in an environment defined as much by financial sustainability as by sporting success. Yet profitability remains a defining challenge for most. Our analysis of financial results over the past six seasons shows that profitability is possible across different contexts, but there is no single formula for success. Bayern, Manchester City and Real Madrid stand apart as revenue giants, combining cost discipline with record-breaking income. Elsewhere, other clubs have demonstrated how profitability can be built on sporting domination, strong player recruitment, development, and well-timed sales, often complemented by sustainable business practices. This article explores these different pathways to profitability and the common lessons they offer to the wider industry.

UEFA Club Competition reforms over the years: Analysing the impact on clubs in small and medium-sized markets

What has been the impact of UEFA Club Competition reforms on smaller and medium-sized market clubs? For clubs from UEFA nations ranked 11-55 by average club revenues, reforms over the past two decades have significantly expanded participation. In 2024/25, clubs from these markets secured nearly half of all league phase places across the three competitions. The UEFA Conference League has quickly established itself as a genuine platform for new stories of success, while breakthroughs in the UEFA Champions League have become increasingly rare. This week’s analysis looks at how UEFA Club Competition reforms have shaped access and performance for these clubs, and asks whether the benefits of expanded participation can translate into broader and more sustainable growth across European club football.

Atlético de Madrid’s transformation: A decade of capital, competitiveness, and global reach

Atlético de Madrid’s transformation over the past decade reflects both sustained sporting success and consistent financial growth. Revenues have increased steadily and Enterprise Value has more than tripled, underpinning the rise of a strong global brand to accompany the team’s achievements on the pitch. This evolution illustrates the complexity of building an elite football institution. Sporting success created the credibility to attract capital, that capital enabled squad investment, and investment in turn underpinned infrastructure and international expansion. Today, the club is no longer the gritty outsider of a decade ago, but a globally minded organisation intent on standing alongside Europe’s giants. This analysis looks at how the club has balanced capital injections, player trading, infrastructure and international expansion to rise among Europe’s elite, and asks what challenges remain for the future.

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