A payroll efficiency analysis of Europe's top football leagues.

This article examines the payroll efficiency of football clubs in the top five European leagues—Serie A (Italy), La Liga (Spain), Premier League (England), Ligue 1 (France), and Bundesliga (Germany)—by analyzing player salaries relative to sports performance over three seasons (2020–2023). Using a novel non-convex metafrontier Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach that accounts for undesirable outputs (goals conceded) and benchmarks teams both within their leagues and across all five leagues, the study identifies significant variations in payroll efficiency. Results indicate that Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga make the most efficient use of their payrolls, while the Premier League ranks lowest in average payroll efficiency despite having some efficient teams. The findings highlight that some high-budget clubs pay salaries not justified by their sporting results, whereas more modest clubs often achieve better payroll efficiency, suggesting potential for cost savings and implications for financial sustainability and competitive balance in European football.