Commercial revenue at Premier League clubs topped £2.5 billion for the first time in the 2012-13 season, according to figures released by Deloitte.
Of the 21% increase in revenue at top-flight clubs, over 75% was spent on wages, which rose by a total of £125m to £1.8 billion.
These increases ensured that Premier League clubs' wages-to-revenue ratio reached a record high of 71%, while aggregate profit fell by £2m to £82m overall.
Senior Consultant at Deloitte, Adam Bull, is quoted by Sky Sports News as saying: "The pattern in spending on wages following previous increases in broadcast deals, suggests it's likely around 60% or more of the revenue increase in 2013-14 will flow through to wages.
"On that basis, we would expect Premier League total wage costs to reach a new record level of around £2.2 billion. However, given the forecast increase in revenue, this would also return the wages to revenue ratio below 70% for the first time since 2009-10."
Deloitte estimates that revenue will have increased by nearly 30% to £3.2 billion in the 2013-14 season.
Daniel Lewis
