'Impressive' financial results at Wolves

From his Zurich fastness, the authoritative Swiss Ramble blogger reviews the latest accounts of Wolverhampton Wanderers. He notes, 'Since being bought by Chinese investment group Fosun International in July 2016, Wolves is a club transformed, helped by a close relationship with super-agent Jorge Mendes. Under charismatic manager Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolves can realistically compete for European qualification.'

The £146m revenue growth was very largely driven by broadcasting’s £125m increase from £8m to £133m, due to much higher TV money in the Premier League, while commercial also rose £17m from £11m to £28m and match day was up £3.7m (47%) from £7.8m to £11.5m.

£20m profit is the second highest reported so far in the 2018/19 Premier League, only surpassed by Manchester United £27m. This is impressive, given that half of the eight Premier League clubs that have published accounts have lost money, including huge losses above £100m at Chelsea and Everton.

The Swiss Ramble comments, 'Wolves were very prudent under former owner Steve Morgan, making profits six times in seven years. In contrast, Fosun’s strategy of “strong investment into the squad” led to £80m of losses in the Championship, but the gamble paid-off with promotion and a return to profits in the Premier League.'

The Premier League is even more lucrative than when Wolves were last there. 'To illustrate the huge difference in the Premier League, Wolves 2018/19 £172m revenue is more than the previous six seasons in the Championship (and League One) combined. Furthermore, revenue is £112m higher than last time in Premier League in 2012 with £91m due to new TV deals.'

The £172m revenue is 11th highest in the Premier League, just below Leicester City £176m. However, the gap to the Big Six is still enormous: they are £220m behind 6th placed Arsenal £393m, while Manchester United £627m is almost four times as much as Wolves. Although a substantial 77% of club revenue comes from broadcasting, this is far from unusual in the top flight. In fact, 13 of the clubs in the Premier League earn more than 70% of their total income from TV.

2019/20 revenue will benefit from playing in the Europa League, where they have so far reached the last 32. For an idea of how much they could receive, last season the two English representatives, Chelsea and Arsenal, earned £41m and £35m respectively (though both got to final). However, this is small change compared to the money available in the Champions League, where the English clubs earned between £80m and £100m last season.

Average attendance increased from 28,298 to 31,030, which was almost 2,700 (9%) more than the previous Premier League peak of 28,366 in 2009/10. The upturn in the club’s fortunes on the pitch has firmly reversed the declining crowds in the lower leagues.

Wolves get raw deal from FFP

I used to see a lifelong Wolves fan for lunch once a month. He was approaching ninety, but still went to games. Sadly he passed away the other week. As football finance guru Kieran Maguire has noted, Wolves continue to be constrained by financial fair play rules. Radio 4 this morning described them as this year's 'crisis club' and the pessimists have certainly been piling in. Martin Samuel wrote sympathetically in the Sunday Times yesterday, saying that the Premier League drives talent away with regulatory red tape: 'Why could Al-Hilal sign Neves? Because Wolves needed the money. And why did Wolves need the money? Because the club had to comply with an artificial construct known as financial fair play. So Wolves are going skint, yes? No. There is no suggestion that Wolves are in financial trouble, only that they are failing to meet the rigours of FFP. Wolves’ owners appear to have the money to run the club, and invest in the club, and in fact came up with a pow

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000. The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts. Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day income is

Charlton takeover approved

The long awaited takeover of Charlton Athletic by SE7 Partners from Thomas Sandgaard has been approved: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/se7-partners-obtain-efl-approval-for-charlton-athletic-takeover/ Charlton have had unhappy experiences with owners for over a decade, so how this works out will remain to be seen. There is certainly potential there, but will it be realised? This interview with Charlie Methven gives detail not available elsewhere: https://thecharltondossier.com/charlie-methven-on-the-record/

The Political Economy of Football V2

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