The Super Cup Final alone, which was played in Erzurum, made a 20 million lira contribution to the city's economy. In addition to the stadium where the match was actually played, the city's restaurants, hotels and coffeeshops were full, while the teams' supporters practically looted the city's gift shops… And this was undoubtedly just a single game…
So, what sort of turnover will the Spor Toto Super League, which kicked off yesterday, reap over the next 34 weeks? In other words, how big of a financial figure can be reached through Turkey's sports and football economy when also taking its side markets into account? This is the question we are going to try to answer.
Unfortunately, there are no healthy compilations of statistics in our country when it comes to sports and namely football. For example, the Turkish Statistical Institute, which conducts statistical studies in an array of areas, does not contain a database solely devoted to measuring the financial scope of sports or football. However, it is possible to piece together figures and predictions based on individual studies. We will be trying to piece together what sort of contribution the Spor Toto Super League, with two billion lirsa (903 million euros) in transfer fees alone for its 18 teams and 520 players, makes to the nation's economy.
BROADCASTS-ADVERTISING = 1.5 BILLION
The Spor Toto Super League's highest income comes from broadcast revenue.
Last year, football clubs and the Turkish Football Federation received 605 million liras including VAT from the Digiturk broadcasting corporation. However, this just depicts one half of the picture. In order to fully comprehend the whole broadcasting picture, one needs to look at the income Digiturk reels in from football and its related revenue.
It is estimated that Digitürk today has approximately two million subscribers. Almost half of them also subscribe to Lig TV. Based on those subscribers purchasing the smallest sports package and adding the income derived from ad sales results in the estimation that their yearly intake is approximately 1-1.2 billion TL. Meanwhile, other television stations and newspapers also reap revenue from football coverage. Considering that football related advertising consists of a conservative estimation of ten percent of all advertising revenue, with Turkey's overall 3.5-4 billion lira advertising market, it would thennot be exaggerated to calculate the combined turnover in broadcasting and advertising proceeds as being nearly 1.5 billion liras.
700 MILLION ENDORSEMENT
Outside of broadcasting revenue, another sector created by football that has been growing over the years is betting… When one mentions football wagers in Turkey, the first company that comes to anyone's mind is İddaa. İddaa's 4.8 billion liras turnover in 2011 is now quickly on the rise. This year's turnover form wagering bets is anticipated to reach six billion liras. Of course, this figure does not reflect undeclared betting.
Undoubtedly, irrespective of the aforementioned figures, there is also the income brought into the football-sports economy that comes directly from the clubs themselves. These include revenue from stadiums, brand product sales, social facilities and sponsorship, etc. In order to make any sort of speculation, one needs to look at the figures for the four biggest clubs trading on the public access stock exchange. These clubs' annual turnover reaches 700 million liras. However, as stated previously, when we minus the 235 million lira broadcasting revenue, that leaves us with 450 million liras for revenue brought in from stadiums, brand product sales, social facilities and sponsorships, etc. If we consider that the remaining 14 teams rake in at least half of what the top four teams do in the aforementioned categories, then we are talking about a 700 million lira turnover.
Highest transfer fee goes to Amrabat
The highest expenditure spent by teams in the Super League was in transfer fees totaling 3.6 million euros. While transfer costs decreased by 70 million liras compared to last season, out of the 18 teams in the league, a total 54.2 million euros were spent on transfers. According to figures from Transfermarkt, Galatasaray was the champion club in transfer fees by spending a total 22.5 million euros on transfers alone. Fenerbahçe followed with 20.3 million euros spent on transfers. Trabzonspor came in third with 3.7 euros and Beşiktaş in fourth with 1.7 million euros spent on transfer fees. The top footballer costing the most in transfer fees was Galatasaray's new player Nordin Ambarat for which the club dished out 8.6 million liras alone.
FIVE BILLION IN CONSUMPTION
When discussing broadcasting revenue, wagers, stadiums and uniforms, it is also important not to overlook the social spending derived from football and its fans. From the basic take-out and delivery meals ordered over the weekend by those who have Lig TV in their home to the money spent at coffeeshops and restaurants that broadcast the game… Fans' transportation costs revitalize both the transportation and tourism sector, while even GSM firms profit from the social activities derived on game days. It's almost impossible to calculate the turnover brought in from all of these combining factors. However, if we were to calculate the money spent in relation to football as being just 0.5 percent of the grand total of Turkey's annual one trillion liras in household spending, that equates to five billion liras. All of these figures brought together show that the Spor Toto Super League creates an additional economy of 13 to 14 billion liras, in other words, eight billion dollars.
We are eighth in EuropeThis is a translation of an article originally written by Birsu Eren.
