In the 2011/2012 season, Germany's Bundesliga created combined revenues of 1.9 billion euros ($2.4 billion) - the second largest in Europe after the English Premier League with revenues of 2.9 billion euros, international consultancy group Deloitte announced Thursday.

However, the German professional football league was the most profitable as its 18 clubs had made operating profits totaling 190 million euros, which was 69 million euros more than in the Premier League, Deloitte's "Annual Review of Football Finance" added.

The higher profitability was the result of substantially lower costs in Germany for players and managers, the report said. While Bundesliga clubs needed to spend only about half of their revenues on salaries, clubs in the Premier League had to earmark around 70 percent for their payrolls. In France and Italy, outlays for players and managers even amounted to three quarters of revenues.

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In addition, Germany's Bundesliga also came out on top with regard to stadium attendance in the 2011/2012 season, as more than 44,000 visitors on average turned out for matches. Premier League attendance came in second place with an average of 34,000 people, to be followed by attendance in Spain and Italy at an average of 26,000 and 22,000 respectively.

For the whole of European soccer, Deloitte calculated total revenues for the 2011/2012 season to the tune of 19.4 billion euros - a new record and 11 percent more than in the previous season. Revenue growth was most significant in the Premier League at 16 percent, while Germany's Bundesliga again came in second place with plus 7 percent.

uhe/dr (Reuters, dpa)