Brighton need to improve player sales performance

Brighton and Hove Albion have one of the lowest revenues in the Premier League, but a generous benefactor owner. From his fastness in Zurich, the authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews their latest accounts.

The loss before tax tripled from £22m to £67m, a £45m decline, as revenue decreased by £15m (10%) from £148m to £133m, while profit on player sales of £5m became a loss of £1m, and expenses rose £24m (14%). Monks Farm development worth £0.6m (revenue £9.4m, costs £8.8m

The £5 15m revenue fall was mainly due to COVID, which severely impacted all revenue streams, especially broadcasting, down £24m (21%) from £114m to £90m and match day, down £5m (27%) from £19m to £14m. Commercial £13m (82%) increased from £16m to £29m (Monks Farm development).

The £67m loss is obviously not great, but it is only 4th worst to date in 2019/20 Premier League, beaten by Everton £140m, Saints £76m and last night’s sad victims £68m. Due to the pandemic, it is likely that other clubs will also post substantial losses when they publish their 19/20 accounts

Without COVID the Seagull’s loss would have been £25m lower, but still almost doubling from £22m to £42m. Revenue impact was £26m, mainly broadcasting £20m (rebates and deferrals to 2020/21 accounts) and match day £6m, while £1m savings from deferred player

They actually made a £0.6m loss on player sales, down from £5.2m profit last season. Premier League profits here are lower in 2019/20, but Brighton are the smallest by far. They have made very little money from player sales. In fact, they have reported just £25m profit from this activity in the last 10 years, only twice achieving more than £5m. The 2020/21 accounts will be boosted by the sales of Knockaert to Fulham and Mooy to Shanghai SIPG

In fact, Brighton’s £19m profit from player sales in 5 years up to 2019 was the lowest in the Premier League. In stark contrast, Chelsea and Liverpool made over £300m. Finance Director David Jones said, “Going forward, to reduce the deficit, player trading needs to be part of the business.”

The London-by-the-sea club have only posted a profit once in the last 10 years, in 2017/18 following promotion to the top flight. In that time, the club has accumulated £195m of losses, averaging £19m a year. Profitability has been declining since that first season in the Premier League.

The operating loss (i.e. excluding player sales and interest) widened from £25m to £63m. Very few Premier League clubs make operating profits, but Brighton’s loss is (currently) one of the highest this season.

£133m revenue is still over £100m more than the £29m reported in the Championship promotion season. Excluding £9.4m from Monks Farm residential and commercial development, revenue fell 17% (£25m) compared to 2018/19

They are considering an increase in capacity at the Amex Stadium from 30,750 to around 32,000, as the club has an 8,000 waiting list for season tickets, though the pandemic might have an impact here.

American Express shirt (and stadium naming rights) sponsor was the lowest in the Premier League at £1.5m, though a new £100m 12-year deal (£8.3m a year) started this season.

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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