Don't look now, but European football is edging towards a break-even point. And we're talking the European game as a whole, more than 700 clubs across UEFA's 55 member nations and not just the top echelon we keep hearing about.
According to UEFA's eighth annual benchmarking report -- basically, a fine-tooth study of the club game -- losses in 2015 amounted to around $360 million. In 2011, they stood at $2,314 million -- or $2.3 billion with a "B." In other words, the past four years have seen an annual drop in losses and a cumulative decline of 84 percent.
That's pretty staggering by any measure. And it doesn't end there, either, because those figures are based on last season. From this season, under the new TV deal, Premier League clubs have seen their cumulative broadcast rise from around $2.4bn to around $3.75bn. Throw in bumps in revenue across other European leagues and increases in commercial income, and we could be looking at close to another $2bn splashing around the continent. We might even see the game as a whole become profitable.
Seems nuts, doesn't it? In historical terms, this is a game-changer.
The $2.3bn plus in losses in 2011 was a low point, but in the past, most clubs tended to lose money or break even. You may wonder why folks invested in football if they were just going to lose their millions.
The answer is three-fold. Some were bored, wealthy fans who simply did it for the thrill, a bit like some of those guys who buy shares in racehorses or, a few magnitudes up, software billionaires who bankroll yachts in the America's Cup.
Others were genuine supporters who were willing to make personal sacrifices to help their club survive and sometimes thrive. Many were folks who no doubt cared about their clubs to some degree but weren't about to squander personal fortunes.
Some got their returns in other ways in terms of image, popularity or local political influence. Some ensured money trickled back to them, sometimes through outright corruption or, more subtly, steering business to the "right" people. And some simply asset-stripped their clubs, loaning them money, making sure they got paid back and simply letting it go bust when everything fell apart.
No more. If football can become a real, transparent and profitable business -- in many leagues it is already because that $360m of losses is an aggregate number, concentrated in certain countries -- it will attract real investors who will treat like a real investment, aka a profit-seeking one.
We're not quite there yet, but we're getting there. And, when we do, the shift will be seismic.