What Are the Richest Football Leagues in the World?

The European football market alone is estimated to be worth around €25.5 billion a year in annual revenue, with emerging markets in Asia and the US catching up. However, these eye-watering amounts of cash aren't spread evenly. Much of the wealth is generated and held by a few elite, well-known leagues. Let's take a closer look and see which leagues are the wealthiest on the planet. 

1. English Premier League

In the world of professional football, the Premier League stands above them all. The combined revenues of the league last season amounted to around £5.7 billion, which also makes the EPL the third-wealthiest league in the world after the NFL and Major League Baseball. The Premier League also has 12 billionaire owners, possessing a combined wealth of around £72 billion. In addition, the Premier League is one of the most popular leagues for soccer betting around the world, with fans of Arsenal, Man U, Chelsea, and the rest betting billions of pounds on the fixtures every single year. 

2. La Liga

Given that the Spanish La Liga is home to Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, two of the best-performing clubs in history, it should come as no surprise that this league knows how to turn a profit. The vast empires of these two clubs alone contribute the bulk of the £3.8 billion in annual revenue generated by La Liga last year. In addition to ticket sales and merch, La Liga earns hundreds of millions from lucrative sponsorship deals from the likes of massive companies like Puma, EA, Budweiser, Santander, and Microsoft. 

3. Bundesliga

Germany's Bundesliga has seen its international prominence and following grow exponentially in recent years, placing it hot on the heels of La Liga with around £3.6 billion in revenues last season. Naturally, Bayern Munich is the big moneymaker, thanks to a brand value estimated at around £1.2 billion. However, teams that were once strictly local phenomenons such as Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund, and VfB Stuttgart have developed global followings in recent years and have seen their individual revenues rise from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of euros in that time. 

4. Serie A

Italy's Serie A league, now known as Serie A TIM due to a £40 million annual sponsorship deal with the Italian telecoms giant TIM, is another European league with a formidable bank balance. The league drew in around £1.85 billion in revenue last year, largely on the backs of star squads like Juventus, AC Milan, and Internazionale, arguably three of the most iconic clubs on the planet. Juventus, the most valuable of the lot, is owned by the billionaire Agnelli family, who also happens to own two more of Italy's most famous brands: Fiat and Ferrari. 

5. Ligue 1 

Finally, there's the French Ligue 1, a relatively small fry in Europe but still the fifth wealthiest soccer league in the world, with revenue of around £1.4 billion last season. The richest club by far is, of course, Paris St Germain, which has been valued at around £900 million. While their revenues may not be as large as the other major European leagues, their finances are arguably the most sound, with the annual Deloitte Football Money League ranking Ligue 1 clubs as having the healthiest finances and largest surpluses out of all other countries in the world. 

As you can see, the wealthiest leagues in the world right now are all European ones. However, don't expect this to remain the case for much longer, as other leagues continue to catch up.