Football’s wage divide: ‘The industry is transformed, not transforming,’ say experts on the role of commercialisation
“The superclubs are purchasing brands, not just footballers,” says sports business expert Aaron CT Smith on football's hyper-commercialisation.
An average Premier League player earns 91.5 times more than the average non-playing staff member. The Asterisk explores how this wage disparity reflects football’s hyper-commercialisation and impacts staff morale.
Manchester City has the biggest player-to-staff pay gap of 237:1 in the Premier League, according to KingCasinoBonus, an online casino comparison service. At the foot of the table, newly promoted Ipswich Town has the lowest wage disparity of 12:1.
But why are players earning so much more than non-playing staff?
Hyper-commercialisation of football: Industry has transformed
Football has evolved from a grassroots sport to a global business.
Commercially, the English Premier League (EPL) is the most valuable football league in the world. The league generated revenue of £5.8 billion in the 2022/23 season, nearly twice that of the Bundesliga, according to Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance 2024.
The Premier League made £1.9 billion in commercial revenue, £3.1 billion in broadcasting, and £843 million in matchday income that season.
Commercial and broadcasting revenue underscore the importance of brand exposure.
English clubs continue to expand operations overseas to increase their brand value. In April, Liverpool opened its first retail partnership in South Korea to enhance its profile.
There is the possibility of Premier League clubs also playing official matches in the United States in the future. However, that idea was shot down by Chief Executive Richard Masters. It has also received resistance from stakeholders at member clubs, particularly from Bournemouth’s American owner Bill Foley.
"Premier League games in America? No," he told BBC Sport. “We should play in the UK. That is where they belong.”
LaLiga is pushing to play games in the United States as early as the 2025/26 season. Should games abroad boost matchday revenue and, subsequently, broadcasting revenue, it would be tempting for other leagues to follow suit.
The big money earned from broadcasting revenue has enabled Premier League clubs to pay their players handsome wages.
Others within the club may not have seen a comparable financial benefit.
“It’s a bit late to be worried about football’s hyper-commercialisation,” Professor Aaron CT Smith, the Director of the University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise in Australia, tells The Asterisk.
Professor Smith is also part of the faculty of the Institute of Sport Business at Loughborough University.
“That horse has bolted—the industry is transformed, not transforming,” he says. “The wage disparities reflect the immense salaries of football’s elites, so the ratios, while stunning, reflect the salaries that have been in the public domain for decades.”
“They are growing, though, propelled by the ownership business models and the prodigious value of football’s commercial proposition.
“In fact, the true ratios are probably even higher as they don’t account for other payments, perks, and endorsements that players receive,” he adds.
The transfer fee and wages of a new signing may not always reflect what has been reported by the media.
The devil is in the details, or in this case, player contracts.
The Football Leaks investigation, which revealed the murky deals and tax-evasion tactics employed by clubs, agents, and third parties, showed the staggering bonuses players can command.
Apart from on-field performances, wealthy clubs also invest in players with the aim of tapping into a new market or enhancing their brand in a new region.
“As unbelievable as it seems, on a strictly commercial cost-benefit basis, the wealthy clubs probably get decent value for their investments,” says Professor Smith.
“The superclubs are purchasing brands, not just footballers.”
American star Christian Pulisic joined Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund in 2019. The winger made waves during his stint in Germany, finishing sixth in the Golden Boy 2017 award for the best young player in Europe.
The United States, which will be hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, has been growing in importance in the football world, and signing one of its hottest prospects would give the team a big commercial boost.
The stars aligned for Chelsea, and Pulisic was unveiled in a blue strip in 2019. American sports magazine Sports Illustrated labelled the move “massive.” However, his time at Stamford Bridge was plagued with injuries, and Pulisic never lived up to his potential. In 2023, he was part of a mass clear-out that saw Chelsea sell and release over 10 players. The American now plays for Italian giants AC Milan.
Powerful players, powerless staff
As clubs’ revenue continues to grow, so do player salaries.
Players may also receive a raise in wages if they qualify for a European tournament like the UEFA Champions League or gain promotion to a higher division.
Players and coaches are often seen as primary contributors to a club's success and are compensated accordingly. Non-playing staff may not receive the same financial rewards.
Do wage disparities between players and non-playing staff affect the overall culture and morale within football clubs?
“One of the key issues here are the hard distinctions drawn within and outside clubs between 'the talent' (coaches, players, etc.) and the off-field staff,” Associate Professor of Sociology John Williams of the University of Leicester tells The Asterisk.
Professor Williams’ research includes sociology of football and football fan culture and the new global and commercial landscape of professional football in Europe, among other areas in sport.
“Since 1995, the players have become much more powerful in a new global marketplace, funded mainly by TV money. The salaries of elite players have boomed. But this has had little or no impact on the salaries of other staff—hence the massive and growing disparities we see today.”
Calling the salaries of elite players ‘unsustainable,’ Professor Smith states that wages have continued to increase.
“We’ve been saying for years that the top-level player salaries are unsustainable, but they continue to escalate, now boosted by foreign investment as well as the massive media and commercial exploitation of the brands,” he says.
“I’m not convinced that the gap between players and staff is a topic of much concern beyond the financial sustainability issue and the radical difference between the top and bottom of the league and the implications for competitive balance.”
Compensations and issues
While staff may not receive the same remuneration or recognition, there are other ‘compensations.’
“Staff in the EPL are actually pretty well paid and receive a lot of benefits,” says Professor Smith. “My guess is that they are, on average, much better remunerated than the fans and supporters.
“I doubt the fans would feel sorry for any staff working in a top club. Fans are more likely to be angered when they think their club is too stingy and won’t buy the best players. I don’t think there’s much evidence that staff are resentful either.
Employees are also aware of the players’ huge status, points out Professor Williams.
“People paid poorly inside clubs do not see themselves as being in the same marketplace as players,” he says. “And there is still that allure of working for a top football club, rather than being in an 'ordinary' job elsewhere.
“This means the power of staff to campaign for higher wages is weak. This may affect morale inside the club, but there are compensations.”
“We all know the top player salaries are ridiculous, but there’s an acceptance that it’s the business,” adds Professor Smith.
Professor Smith highlights another problem that staff employed by smaller clubs have to encounter.
“The bigger picture is the disparity between the upper elites and the remainder, as the ratios plummet as you move down the leagues and quickly get to clubs where very few employees—players or support staff—are either compensated fairly or contracted on secure terms.
“Football is packed with precarious employment.”
‘Staff can seldom exercise muscle’
It is difficult to pinpoint the long-term consequences that may arise for clubs that maintain huge wage inequalities between players and staff, according to Professor Williams.
“There is always local competition to work inside a top football club,” he says. “Those clubs in relegation danger may sack staff if things go wrong—that is not a great local news story.
“But football staff generally are weakly organised, and the very nature of sport means that they are seldom able to get together collectively to exercise muscle—clubs are paranoid about sharing 'state secrets' with their rivals, even at this lower staff level.
“I don't see much changing in the near future, but we have a new Football Regulator on the horizon. Their impact may be significant. We will see.”
Global ambitions and local impact
While the shift in focus to a global audience may have eroded local community values, clubs often invest money into the locality, according to Professor Smith.
“It’s a reasonable position to suggest that the ruthless commercialisation of the game has redirected clubs’ focus from local to global audiences and that community values have eroded. Player salaries are part of that dynamic because it’s the global marketplace that determines their value to a club… but that’s old news, and fans for the most part remain engaged,” he explains.
“There’s also a legitimate counterargument that the players generate brand value and revenue, some of which gets reinvested into local infrastructure and economic stimulus. Then there’s the foreign investment too. As you know, look at Birmingham City FC’s investments.”
In 2023, American company Shelby Companies Limited, a subsidiary of Knighthead Capital Management LLC and led by Tom Wagner, acquired a major controlling stake in Birmingham City FC.
The acquisition marked the beginning of a major revamp for the club. Wagner set out plans to improve club performances and develop the local infrastructure.
Knighthead purchased a 48-acre site at Bordesley Park with plans to build a world-class stadium and develop the area into a “Sports Quarter” that would create 3,000 jobs and contribute to Birmingham's GDP.
Wagner recently told ITV News that the project hinges on the government improving transport links to the site.
“It is very difficult to get to our existing stadium—St. Andrews @ Knighthead Park,” he said. “When we look at bringing double the capacity, and then having people who live there, folks that work there, and people who stay there at a hotel when they visit Birmingham, you’ve got a lot of activity going on on the site we’ll be constructing. So you need much better transport infrastructure in the local community to make that work.”
Fans prioritise performance
Fans are more concerned with what happens on the pitch. Such significant pay gaps do not necessarily influence the way fans perceive their clubs, especially in terms of fairness and community values.
However, there are a few instances that may have a short-term impact on fan perception.
“When cases are given high public exposure—paying below the minimum wage, poor conditions, sacking staff but not players, etc.—I think this does have a short-term impact,” says Professor Williams.
“Working for a football club is often seen as a privilege,” he repeats. “The 'community' strand of this is normally swallowed up, not by stories about low staff wages, but about what clubs are doing in local schools, hospitals, etc.
“Fans are torn—they expect clubs to be a good employer at a certain level, but they also expect to see the cash spent where it matters—on the pitch.”
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