With Premier League profits and EFL losses – is football paying enough tax?

In the Premier League, Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules in place from 2014-16 limited the increases clubs could make in spending on players between seasons that were funded purely by new broadcast revenue.

They could, however, spend more on players from their “own revenue”, including commercial or sponsorship deals, profit from player sales, an increase in ticket sales, or Uefa prize money, such as from participating in the Champions League.

There was no cap on player costs or wages in the Championship but the rules limited losses to a maximum of £13m per season, or £5m per season if the owner did not inject cash into the club to cover those losses.

FFP has since been replaced with Profitability and Sustainability rules, which meant clubs that remained in the Championship were permitted to lose a total of £39m over a three-year rolling period.

This loss is not the same as the accounting losses published by clubs, as some costs – such as infrastructure, academy, community and women’s football – are excluded.