BackNeymar, Messi and Ronaldo aren’t as greedy as they look
Football stars, such as Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo, aren't really taking a bigger share of the revenue that their clubs generate through their exploits
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Brazilian football star Neymar is a wisp of a player who confounds defenders with sudden acceleration and trickery instead of power. Yet the 25-year-old is on the verge of signing a heavyweight contract to move from Barcelona FC to Qatar-backed Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
All in, PSG could end up paying €400 million to €500 million ($475 million-$593 million), once a gargantuan buyout clause, agent fees and taxes are taken into account.
Such vast sums will spur hand-wringing about greedy players and rapacious clubs ruining the beautiful game. But a closer look at the data shows that player wages have held pretty steady as a percentage of club revenue in the past decade.
Of course, salaries have spiraled in recent years alongside everything else in European football, driven by skyrocketing TV rights deals and commercial activities at the clubs. But the players themselves aren’t generally grabbing a larger slice of the pie. It’s just the pie has gotten very, very big.
That’s not to say that wages are the only sign of the financial madness in top-level football. Transfer fees are increasing at a scarily fast pace, as the putative Neymar deal shows. The weight is borne more by super clubs such as Manchester United and PSG, who buy more than they sell. But it’s not ideal that agents like Jorge Mendes and Neymar’s dad end up making tens of millions in commissions from player moves.
And while it’s true that football stars aren’t really taking a bigger share of the revenue being generated through their exploits, it was a pretty hefty slice to begin with. Other businesses such as advertising and investment banking depend on talent too, but their employee costs are relatively modest by comparison.
Still, it seems unfair to castigate soccer’s young superstars for maintaining their share of soccer’s riches. Indeed, you might tell them to enjoy it while it lasts, as evidence shows TV viewers are starting to switch off. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Bloomberg Gadfly
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