Had the Premier League table for the 2022-23 season been arranged based on commercial income, Leeds United would have been a lot happier.
They could have qualified for Europe. Only the so-called ‘Big Six’ outperformed them on shirt sales, sponsorship revenue and other partnerships. Let the tongue-in-cheek chanting of, ‘Biggest commercial revenue outside the top six, you’ll never sing that’ start now.
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But while the concept of league tables based on anything but the football itself can feel a bit inane, revenue matters more and more in modern football. This is a money game and clubs who bring in higher revenue can spend more on players. More often than not, they also attract more investment.
Leeds, to their credit, are very good at the commercial side of things. They have been for some time.
It is part of what attracted 49ers Enterprises to take ownership of the club. It appealed to Red Bull in its recent investment, too. Being associated with Leeds is big business — it is why Adidas signed a five-year deal to be the club’s kit supplier in 2020 worth a reported £10million ($12.7m at today’s rates) a season. That was a record-breaking deal for Leeds. Both parties have reaped the rewards of the deal, with Leeds’ kit revenue for the 2022-23 season ranking the 16th-highest in Europe, according to a UEFA club finance report.
Leeds have a five-year deal with Adidas, which is set to expire in the summer of 2025 (George Wood/Getty Images)
The €34million (£28.8m; $36.5m) made from kit and merchandising sales put Leeds level with Scottish giants Celtic, ahead of Fenerbahce (€31m) of Turkey and Inter from Serie A (€26m). The gap to the world’s biggest clubs is vast. Barcelona lead with €179m and Liverpool are the top English club at €132m. But Leeds are consistently the biggest second-tier club in Europe.
All the things that make Leeds attractive as a football entity for prospective signings — big fanbase, historic club, Premier League ambition — make them a commercial success. They benefit each other symbiotically, as football finance expert Kieran Maguire explains.
“If you go back to the last season Leeds played in the Championship before parachute payments (2019-20), their commercial income was around 60 per cent of the total revenue,” he says. “That is unheard of among Championship clubs.
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“They were bringing in £30million a season from commercial deals, which is Premier League standard. It’s an international brand, a club with history and heritage. That sells. It’s got an expat community in an awful lot of countries, which helps to increase the profile and all of these things are positive. Leeds is a one-club city and there aren’t many like that — maybe Newcastle is most similar. But there aren’t many cities the size of Leeds with only one club — Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool and so on have multiple clubs.
“You’ve got a very committed fanbase too. So all of that is attractive to potential sponsors. You’ve got a potential ABC1 audience (a term used in market research to refer to middle-class consumers), a local fanbase, an international fanbase, the history and the heritage and the numbers are there for kit manufacturers.
“Why did Adidas want that deal? They know when the kit comes out, it will immediately sell thousands of shirts. There aren’t many clubs that, the day the shirt comes out, you get people hanging around outside the megastore. In turn, the revenue generates the ability to pay wages and be involved in the transfer market. And that’s why Leeds are the biggest fish in the Championship pond and no other club delivers to the extent that Leeds will do this season.”
Leeds’ deal with Adidas is due to expire in 2025. Talks with suppliers for the following seasons are being explored, as is to be expected for a club of their size. In line with a trend towards retro themes at other big clubs in the Adidas stable, The Athletic has been told that potential designs for the new 2024-25 Leeds kits have included earlier iterations of the club’s crest like the famous ‘smiley’ badge. Arsenal and Manchester United’s kits, both made by Adidas, have been given similar treatment in recent seasons and have been popular with fans.
When asked about forthcoming designs and the partnership with Leeds, Adidas said: “We are proud of our ongoing partnership with Leeds United Football Club. The passionate fan base and club history gives us rich territory when we create for the players and supporters. Whilst we won’t be releasing details of the new kits for next season yet, we will be unveiling some exciting designs in the coming weeks. We look forward to continuing our work together.”
Leeds wearing a kit with the ‘smiley’ badge during the 1975 European Cup final (Keystone/Getty Images)
Leedsdid not comment when asked about kit designs for the forthcoming season.
As they target promotion again this season, they will do so with Red Bull sponsoring the front of their shirts. This represents another key partnership with a global brand. It is only befitting of Leeds’ commercial income and top-flight ambition.
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But Red Bull’s involvement has clarified that the 49ers are not willing to explore another common avenue for commercial profits — a naming deal for Elland Road. Speaking toThe Athletic following news of Red Bull’s investment in Leeds, chairmanParaag Marathe said, “Anything with Elland Road is just not on my radar whatsoever. It’s not contemplated and it’s never been a part of this discussion. I recognise, and I’ve been in sports too long not to know, that these stadiums are hallowed grounds.”
Leeds chairman Marathe has said Elland Road’s name is sacrosanct (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
At present, that applies to Red Bull or any other brand — Elland Road’s name remains sacrosanct.
“Red Bull is a global brand and that’s a vote of confidence in Leeds,” says Maguire. “They would not have partnered with a club that they believe will be in the second tier on a long-term basis. So they will probably have seen last season as a small bump in the road. Leeds have an extra bit of kudos because they have won the top division, they have got to a European Cup final. They were the biggest club in the country and when I was at school, everyone wanted to be a Leeds fan because they were the glamour club. So they still have a lot of legacy interest and that’s something that they can tap into.
“With the Premier League, you have the fact that you are being broadcast to 189 countries. So you’ve got the eyeballs for sponsors there. Their commercial income last time they were in the Championship was £30million — in the Premier League, it was £48m. So there is a 60 per cent step up. It was bigger than Aston Villa, bigger than Newcastle, bigger than West Ham, even though all those clubs have stadiums bigger in capacity than Leeds.
“If you go back to the 2019-20 season, when they were previously in the Championship, they had more commercial income than eight clubs in the Premier League. That pegs them to a pretty impressive position. Their commercial income was by far the biggest in the Championship that season.”
Even with the new investment from Red Bull, winning promotion remains as crucial as ever for Leeds. Deloitte’s annual Football Money Report for 2024 placed Leeds 27th in global football for total revenue (accounting for commercial, matchday and broadcast revenue), with €207.8million. That is ahead of Crystal Palace (€206.5m), Lyon (€199.1m) and Everton (€198m).
The potential for more is clear. Premier League status and, by extension, its global audience provide an uplift to all areas of the club. Leeds’ commercial success in recent years has shown that as a top-flight club, they could thrive and challenge the elite. The first step is getting there.
(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Nancy Froston is The Athletic's Leeds United writer. She previously reported on the EFL covering the Championship, League One and League Two as well as a three year spell writing about Sheffield Wednesday. Follow Nancy on Twitter @nancyfroston
