Football's Top-Division Clubs’ Hiring Boom Drives Costs
The fourth part of stadiaworld’s analysis of the UEFA report “European Club Finance and Investment Landscape” focuses on personnel and operating costs. In 2024, Europe’s top-flight clubs had 33% more staff in 2024 than they did in 2019.
UEFA breaks operating costs down into two components: employee costs (referred to as “wages” in the interests of simplicity) and non-wage operating costs (“OPEX”). Employee costs are also divided into player and non-player employee costs. OPEX includes (i) fixed costs such as the depreciation of stadiums and other assets, (ii) a mixture of fixed and variable costs linked to Commercial activities, property-related expenses and matchday operations, and (iii) exceptional one-off costs.
In terms of personnel costs, the association reports an increase of 1.8% in players’ wages and 8% for non-player wage costs. Between 2021 and 2024, non-player wages (technical and admin staff) increased by 42% and now amount to a total of 5.2 billion euros (approx. 4.5bn GBP). In the top five leagues, non-player wages account for 16% of annual revenue. In addition to “a greater focus on the technical sides of running a club combined with resource-heavy revenue generation”, more and more staff are being hired, as the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) shows: a total of 93,696 FTEs are recorded for European top-flight clubs in 2024, which is 33% more than five years earlier.
15 of the 20 leagues have hired more staff compared to the previous year, with ten clubs exceeding 1,000 FTEs. Chelsea, Aston Villa and Dynamo Moscow have created over 100 new FTEs compared to the previous year; of the top clubs, only FC Bayern has made significant staff cuts. Over 150 FTEs were cut at the German record champions.
UEFA concludes: “Given that clubs' core activity (number of matches played) did not change between 2019 and 2023, these increases in the number of FTE employees highlight the nature of commercial revenue generation, as servicing partnerships, promoting events and connecting with fans are resource‑heavy and costly, in direct contrast to broadcast and UEFA revenues, both of which require little work from the club. […] The level and type of stadium operations and strength of commercial operations are factors behind the typical English and German club having twice as many FTE employees as other leagues.”
But even aside from staff costs, operating expenses are rising steadily: Non-wage operating costs (OPEX) rose by 10% in 2024, outpacing revenue growth for the third consecutive year. The focus on cost-heavy top-line revenues drives operating costs up. They now absorb 36% of club revenue, the highest share for 15 years.
OPEX increased significantly at all the top ten clubs during 2025, with Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC, Arsenal FC and Aston Villa FC adding more than 50 million euros to their operating cost base. OPEX are now 56% higher than in the last full season before the pandemic (2019), while revenue has increased by just 39% in the same period. UEFA therefore reiterates its view that football by no means has a revenue problem (yearly annual revenue records, more than doubling since 2013), but that “financial problems are nearly always driven by a lack of cost control”. (stadiaworld, 10.04.2026)
