A high proportion of clubs owning their own grounds is one of the key factors behind the growing prosperity of the English Premier League, according to KPMG.

The giant auditing firm’s Football Benchmark team published a report – titled The ‘Big Five’ stadia landscape 2016/17 – which found that 16 of the 20 clubs in the Premier League owned their own ground.

Owner-occupier status has allowed the clubs to “generate a much larger share of revenues,” leading to “significant growth” and fan engagement, the report said. The German Bundesliga also has a high proportion, with 10 out of 18 grounds owned by clubs.

“These leagues are gaining exemplary international recognition through new and prosperous sponsorship and television broadcasting deals, which are also due to their modern, attractive, and filled home grounds,” said the report.

Last year, the Premier League signed a record broadcasting deal, worth £5.1bn (US$6.7bn, €6.1bn) domestically and £8.2bn (US$10.8bn, €9.8bn) when international rights are factored in.

The number of new stadiums built also correlates with ownership status. In England and Germany, seven and 11 new stadiums have been built respectively since 2000, while in Spain, Italy and France – where stadium ownership is comparatively low – only three, one and five new grounds have been built in the last 16 years respectively.

The report added: “Italy’s Serie A is rather symbolising a stagnant football league. Serie A is struggling to regain the international recognition it enjoyed in the past. The challenging conditions of Serie A are expressed through obsolete, publicly-owned and oversized stadia, which are rarely filled.”