Football: it's the goal, stupid More news this week of football clubs" desperate race to generate more in revenue than they pay their players. Deloitte's annual Money League reports that revenues for the top 20 global football clubs have risen another 8 per cent. The commercial segment - sponsorship and the like - is shouldering most of the burden. An average of 41 per cent of the total of €5.4bn in revenues generated by the top 20 clubs derived from commercial sources. That compares with 35 per cent two seasons prior. Meanwhile the former dependence on match day sales has diminished to only about a fifth of the top-line. For some clubs, such as AC Milan, it represents just a tenth of revenues. Even broadcast fees grow less important; their slice of the total fell back from 42 to 37 per cent. Historically, revenue growth has been for naught. Football clubs around the world, controlled by shrewd, experienced, wealthy businessmen, have found themselves outfoxed time and again by a bunch of teenagers (and, admittedly, their agents). As fast as money came through the door, the players found a way to take it back out. That may slowly be changing. According to Uefa, revenue growth is outpacing wage growth for the first time since the organisation started collecting data in 2006. It is a tiny difference at present, but far healthier than the 7 percentage point advantage that wage growth held back in 2008. So are football clubs slowly making their way to becoming the kind of company into which rational investors would want to put their money? UEFA's financial fair play rules, which came into effect at the start of the current season, are meant to stop clubs from unsustainably bleeding cash in an effort to win silverware. But like most rules designed to create an even economic playing field, they are possible to game. Two seasons ago, Paris Saint-Germain's owners the Qatar Investment Authority brought in the state-owned Qatari Tourist Authority as sponsors - coming close to a banned related party transaction. Fair play rules are crucial for leagues, but individual teams benefit from breaking them.