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United's sponsorship smarts give them a big boost

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire takes an in depth look at Manchester United's latest financial figures: http://priceoffootball.com/manchester-united-2019-20-spoilt-victorian-child/

Maguire notes, 'Whether United can hold onto top spot in the revenue table is uncertain, as Liverpool and Manchester City both had the benefit of higher league positions and Champions League participation last season.'

He comments, 'Even when compared to other clubs 2018/19 figures, Manchester United’s ability to strike deals with sponsors is peerless, effectively earning the same as the combined commercial income of the "Other 14" clubs added together.'

Revenue fell faster than salaries and so Manchester United paid £56 in wages for every £100 of income, the highest proportion for a decade, but still well below UEFA’s ‘red line’ of 70%.

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has also taken a look at the figures and states: '£23m loss after tax is much smaller than many announced by European counterparts for 2019/20, e.g. Roma £184m, Milan £176m, Barcelona £87m and Juventus £81m. That said, Real Madrid broke-even, while Benfica and Ajax made good profits, due to high player sales.' United are not particularly reliant on player sales.

The £509m revenue is the lowest they have generated for five years (£395m in 2015) and is now back to 2016 levels (£515m in 2016). Before the pandemic struck, the club had projected £560-580m, which implies that the COVID-19 impact was £50-£70m. The fact that so much of United’s revenue is from commercial (44% in 2018/19) gives them a degree of protection from the financial impact of the pandemic that others don’t have.

The club's revenue is no longer the highest in England, falling below Manchester City £535m and Liverpool £533m, though these clubs have yet to publish COVID-impacted accounts for 2019/20. That said, other leading clubs have been narrowing the gap to United.

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