The Big Five refers to the association football markets of England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France., they are the five European leaders in size and popularity of the main domestic football leagues – the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 respectively in men's football, and the Women's Super League, Frauen-Bundesliga, Liga F, Serie A, and Première Ligue respectively in women's football.
Ace Advisory Zrt., a Hungarian private company in the field of data-driven sports and leisure business consultancy,[1] with services as the Football Benchmark data & analytics platform,[2] ranks Europe's 32 most prominent football clubs by their Enterprise Value (EV) since 2016. In these ranking for 2023, the number of clubs from the Big Five leagues hit a record high of 29, making up 97% of the top 32's total aggregate EV, which further highlights their financial strength.[3] The Premier League, often considered the most competitive and financially lucrative league, generates billions in revenue annually and boasts a worldwide audience. Similarly, Germany's Bundesliga is celebrated for its high attendance rates and fan engagement.[4] [5] [6] La Liga in Spain is the home to global giants like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the most valuable and successful club worldwide, including domestic, European and international club competitions.[7] Italy's Serie A, known for its tactical sophistication, has a rich history of European and world champions.[8] France's Ligue 1, while often seen as the underdog comparing to the other Big Five leagues, regarding enterprise value and winning European and international titles, continues to produce world-class talent and is home to Paris Saint-Germain, a club with significant international influence.[9]
In women's football, these leagues have been pivotal in increasing the sport's visibility and professional standards. The Women's Super League in England and Frauen-Bundesliga in Germany are among the top destinations for elite female footballers, contributing significantly to the growth of the sport.[10] Spain's Liga F, Italy's Serie A, and France's Division 1 Feminine have made substantial strides in professionalizing women's football and drawing in larger audiences and sponsorships.[11]
| Market Leaders | Revenues (€ billion) | Share | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 'Big Five' top-leagues | 17.2 | ||
| 2 | All non-'Big Five' leagues | 6.1 | ||
| 3 | FIFA, UEFA and National Associations | 3.5 | ||
| 4 | 'Big Five' countries other leagues | 2.7 | ||
| Revenue from the top national leagues in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain Revenue from all professional leagues (except top division) in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain Revenue from all national leagues in all other 50 UEFA associations outside the 'Big Five' FIFA's European revenues, UEFA's revenues (less payments to clubs and associations) and national associations' revenues (less payments to clubs) during the 2021/22 and 2022 seasons (depending on the respective financial year end) | ||||
In men's football, the combined resources and revenues of the Big Five domestic leagues dominate world football; according to Statista, they have a combined revenue of €15.6billion. Within the Big Five, England's Premier League is considerably larger than the other four in terms of both popularity and wealth, with both factors influencing the other; league wealth is mostly derived from selling broadcasting rights to global markets based on the league's popularity worldwide, with competing bids. The German Bundesliga enjoys the highest average match attendance, while brand value is strongest in the main teams of Spain's La Liga, namely Real Madrid and Barcelona.[13]
The UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations have significantly enhanced the financial performance of European football. These regulations eradicated overdue payables and converted an aggregate net loss of EUR 1.7 billion in 2010/11 into a net profit of EUR 579 million in 2016/17. Additionally, net equity positions, reflecting the balance sheet solvency or financial health of European first division clubs, have markedly improved over the past decade, as in the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of net equity for the Big Five leagues, which has ranged from 7.5% in England to 17.9% in France.
Bleacher Report noted that the Big Five all benefit from having "developed their own 'brand' of how football should be played."[14] The website suggested that the Netherlands' top league Eredivisie was considered similarly to the Big Five in footballing terms, but did not reach the same popularity or funding levels because it is overlooked by international fans in favour of the Five.
The Big Five are seen as the collective leagues where the best players in the world go to develop and shine, and it is accepted that the Big Five "represent the pinnacle of European football". However, football fans, particularly in different regions, often debate the quality of each league compared to the others.[15] As of 2023, the Big Five lead the UEFA coefficient for both men's and women's domestic leagues in Europe.[16] [17] The coefficient ranks on performance of domestic teams in European competitions; football analytics website Breaking the Lines suggested that the continued dominance of the Big Five in the coefficient for men's football relies on teams from other nations – which may be as good or better than Big Five teams when fielding their best XI – thinking there is more security in aiming for domestic titles rather than European ones, and Big Five teams having the resources available to perform in both. The dominance of recent times is particularly evident in the most prestigious club competition in European football in the UEFA Champions League, in which only teams from the Big Five have participated in the finals since the 2004 final, where Porto has been the last club outside the Big Five competing in a final.[18] In terms of national teams, they are also the only five European nations that have won the FIFA World Cup.[19]
Women's football has been less consistently centralised and, in Europe, has also been strong in Scandinavia;[20] [21] as it became more popular, the largest (men's) football markets invested more, leading to a shift towards teams from the Big Five.[22] Sweden held a spot in the UEFA coefficient instead of Italy through 2022.
In 2021, several men's teams from the Big Five leagues in England, Italy, and Spain attempted to create a European Super League, but received pushback. Teams from Germany and France were reportedly invited to join the project, but declined.
| Competition | Spain | England | Italy | Germany | France | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Cup / | Winners | 20 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 56 of 69 European Cup / UEFA Champions League seasons has been won by a club from the Big Five |
| Finalists | 31 | 26 | 29 | 19 | 7 | 112 of 138 European Cup / UEFA Champions League finalists has been clubs from the Big Five | |
| UEFA Cup / | Winners | 14 | 9 | 10 | 7 | – | 40 of 53 UEFA Cup / Europa League seasons has been won by a club from the Big Five |
| Finalists | 19 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 5 | 75 of 106 UEFA Cup / Europa League finalists has been clubs from the Big Five | |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | Winners | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 of 3 UEFA Europa Conference League seasons has been won by a club from the Big Five |
| Finalists | – | 1 | 3 | – | – | 4 of 6 UEFA Europa Conference League finalists has been clubs from the Big Five | |
| Grand total | Winners | 34 | 25 | 23 | 15 | 1 | 98 of 125 current UEFA top-tier competitions has been won by a club from the Big Five |
| Finalists | 50 | 44 | 50 | 35 | 12 | 192 of 250 current UEFA top-tier competition finalists has been clubs from the Big Five | |
| Competition | Germany | France | Spain | England | Italy | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Women's Champions League | Winners | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1 | – | 21 of 23 UEFA Women's Champions League seasons has been won by a club from the Big Five |
| Finalists | 17 | 13 | 5 | 2 | – | 37 of 46 UEFA Women's Champions League finalists has been clubs from the Big Five | |
In contrast to the current UEFA competitions, the Cup Winners Cup also showed a dominance of the Big Five, but this was significantly lower in terms of title success (over 69%) and final participation (over 62%). This should be explained by the fact that only one participant from the respective leagues could take part in this tournament as a national cup winner or national cup finalist, if the cup winner qualified for the European Cup / UEFA Champions League. Therefore only one participant from the respective leagues (unless the defending champions did not qualify for any other UEFA competition, then it were two) took part in this competition.
| Competition | England | Spain | Italy | Germany | France | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (defunct) | Winners | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 27 of 39 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup seasons were won by a club from the Big Five |
| Finalists | 13 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 49 of 78 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finalists were clubs from the Big Five | |
The table below shows the winning teams in all men's Big Five leagues by season.
| Football League First Division / Premier League (1888–1992 / 1992–) | ||
| USFSA Championship / Ligue 1 (1896–1932 / 1932–) | ||
| German Champions / Bundesliga (1903–1963 / 1963–) | ||
| Serie A (1898–) | ||
| La Liga (1929–) |
| Rank | Player | Nationality | Goals | Itemized Goals | Period | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | data-sort-value="Messi" | Lionel Messi | 496 | 2004–2023 | |||||||||||
| 2 | data-sort-value="Cristiano" | Cristiano Ronaldo | 495 | 2003–2023 | |||||||||||
| 3 | data-sort-value="Jimmy Greaves" | 366 | 1957–1971 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | data-sort-value="Gerd Müller" | 365 | 1965–1979 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | data-sort-value="Lewandowski" | Robert Lewandowski | 356 | 2010– | |||||||||||
| 6 | data-sort-value="Steve Bloomer" | 314 | 1892–1914 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | data-sort-value="Dixie Dean" | 310 | 1924–1938 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | data-sort-value="Ibrahimovic" | 302 | 2004–2023 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | data-sort-value="Delio Onnis" | 299 | 1971–1986 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | data-sort-value="Gordon Hodgson" | 288 | 1925–1939 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | data-sort-value="Karim Benzema" | Karim Benzema | 281 | 2004–2023 | |||||||||||
| 12 | data-sort-value="Alan Shearer" | 283 | 1988–2006 | ||||||||||||
| 13 | data-sort-value="Silvio Piola" | 274 | 1929–1954 | ||||||||||||
| 14 | data-sort-value="Edinson Cavani" | Edinson Cavani | 267 | 2007–2023 | |||||||||||
| 15 | data-sort-value="Charlie Buchan" | 258 | 1912–1928 | ||||||||||||
| 16 | data-sort-value="David Jack" | 257 | 1920–1938 | ||||||||||||
| 17 | data-sort-value="Raúl" | 256 | 1994–2012 | ||||||||||||
| 18 | data-sort-value="Nat Lofthouse" | 255 | 1946–1960 | ||||||||||||
| 19 | data-sort-value="Bernard Lacombe" | 255 | 1969–1987 | ||||||||||||
| 20 | data-sort-value="Telmo Zarra" | 251 | 1940–1955 | ||||||||||||
| 21 | data-sort-value="Francesco Totti" | 250 | 1992–2017 | 22 | data-sort-value="Harry Kane" | Harry Kane | 249 | 2012–--> |
| Rank | Player | Nationality | Titles | Itemized Titles | Period | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | data-sort-value="Ryan Giggs" | 13 | 1990–2014 | ||||
| 2 | data-sort-value="Paco Gento" | 12 | 1952–1971 | ||||
| 3 | data-sort-value="Lionel Messi" | Lionel Messi | 12 | 2004–2023 | |||
| 4 | data-sort-value="Thomas Müller" | Thomas Müller | 12 | 2008– | |||
| 5 | data-sort-value="David Alaba" | David Alaba | 12 | 2010– | |||
| 6 | data-sort-value="Paul Scholes" | 11 | 1994–2013 | ||||
| 7 | data-sort-value="Gianluigi Buffon" | 11 | 1995–2021 | ||||
| 8 | data-sort-value="Arjen Robben" | 11 | 2004–2019 | ||||
| 9 | data-sort-value="Thiago Alcântara" | Thiago Alcântara | 11 | 2008– | |||
| 10 | data-sort-value="Manuel Neuer" | Manuel Neuer | 11 | 2006– | |||
| 11 | data-sort-value="Lewandowski" | Robert Lewandowski | 11 | 2010– | |||
| 12 | data-sort-value="Kingsley Coman" | Kingsley Coman | 11 | 2012– | |||
| 13 | data-sort-value="Pirri" | 10 | 1964–1980 | ||||
| 14 | data-sort-value="Gary Neville" | 10 | 1992–2011 | ||||
| 15 | data-sort-value="Ibrahimović" | 10 | 2004–2023 |
The table below show the players who have played in all Big Five Leagues.
| Player | England | France | Germany | Italy | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espanyol | ||||||
| Brescia | ||||||
| Hellas Verona | ||||||
| Milan | ||||||
| Sevilla | ||||||
| Sevilla | ||||||
| Fiorentina | ||||||
| Valencia |
The table below show the managers who have coached in all Big Five Leagues.
| Manager | England | France | Germany | Italy | Spain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | |||||
| Juventus | |||||
| Everton | |||||
| Milan | |||||
| Napoli |
Carlo Ancelotti is the first and only manager to have won league titles in all Big Five leagues.[28]