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How can Kevin de Bruyne be worth 100 Leah Williamsons? With Kieran Maguire, Professor of Football Finance, University of Liverpool
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In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, data storyteller Sam Knowles welcomes Kieran Maguire, an acclaimed expert in football finance. Kieran’s a chartered accountant, academic, author, and podcaster. For the past decade, he’s been a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool’s Management School. He often appears in print and particularly broadcast media, making sense of the often bewildering and often chaotic world of football finance. He has a reputation for his “clear-headed and rigorous analysis of the financial imperatives and challenges facing football”.
Kieran’s the author of the critically-acclaimed, award-winning book The Price of Football, the second edition of which was published in 2021. The Price of Football is also the name of his twice-weekly podcast which – since 2019 – has clocked up more than 400 episodes. Kieran presents the podcast alongside the comedian, Kevin Day. He truly is a multi-media expert in football finance.
Our conversation was recorded remotely, via the medium of Riverside.fm, on Transfer Deadline Day at the start of the 2023-24 football season, 1 September 2023.
Thanks to Joe Hickey for production support.
Podcast artwork by Shatter Media.
Voice over by Samantha Boffin.
A Brighton & Hove Albion fan, chartered account Kieran argues that he doesn’t have the communications and networking skills required to pursue a career in finance. He spends his days obsessively updating spreadsheets of football clubs’ finances, ably assisted by more than 250 alerts from the Companies House website. As well as teaching.
The most egregious act of data malarkey Kieran’s observed in the many years he’s been following football finance was the attempted (and still not-dead) breakaway European Super League; “an attempt to steal the heart and soul of football”.
For Kieran, the three biggest myths in football finance are:
1. Spending other people’s money – recklessly – is a good thing
2. Footballers’ wages are too high
3. Tickets for the Premiership are too expensive
The Premier League’s broadcast deals generate 60% of the 20 top flight clubs’ revenues, and the league is the world’s most popular, with live broadcasts and highlights packages sold in 190 countries. And while women’s football is enjoying its highest profile and a surge in popularity thanks to the Lionesses’ ongoing success, Kieran doesn’t think that there will be wage or playing budget parity at elite men’s and women’s clubs (outside of Lewes FC) any time soon.
Manchester City’s men’s team generated £610m in revenue in the 2022-23 season; its women’s team generated £6m. That 100:1 ratio is reflected in the £20m its (injury-prone) midfielder, Kevin de Bruyne, trousers as an annual salary, compared with the highest-paid England women’s player, Leah Williamson, currently on £200,000 a year (or about half of what Harry Kane receives each week from Bayern Munich).
EXTERNAL LINKS
The Price of Football – podcast, books, merch – https://priceoffootball.com
Kieran on Twitter (X) - https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire
Kieran’s LinkedIn profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieran-maguire-a085033/
A Memorable Gov.uk blog on how Kieran uses Companies House data to keep track of football finance
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