Thailand's top domestic football league is generating more revenue but the teams are still struggling to make profits, a research house says.
The Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) said revenue from the top Thai League jumped 16.5% from 1.9 billion baht in 2014 to 3 billion baht last year. But the league still suffered losses of 192 million baht last year -- down from 255 million baht in 2014 -- the research arm of Siam Commercial Bank reported.
"More than half of the football clubs in the Thai League operated at losses in 2018," the EIC added.
The research compiled data from the Business Development Department, the official Fifa website and transfermarkt.com, a website that tracks transfers of football players around the globe.
Sixteen teams play in Thai League 1 this season. Slightly more than half of the revenue was concentrated in the top three clubs last year, according to the EIC.
The EIC did not give details but the top three teams in the table in the 2018 season were champions Buriram United, Bangkok United and Port.
The average number of football fans in the stadiums was 4,515 per match in last year's season, a figure that rose to 5,800 for the current season, according to the Thai League.
Siamsport, a sports website, said last year an obstacle to luring more spectators to Thai domestic football matches was that the competition was a two-horse race. Only Buriram United and SCG Muangthong United have been champions over the past 10 seasons, it said.
Buriram United also are top of the table this season after 20 matches.