Haringey overtakes Islington in North London revenue race

Undertaking his usual forensic analysis of the latest Arsenal accounts, the authoritative Swiss Ramble identifies a number of areas of concern from his Zurich fastness. They are not just pandemic effects, which can be seen across Europe, even though Arsenal has been hit harder in some respects.

The operating loss increased from £33m to £99m. Very few clubs make operating profits, but Arsenal now have the third highest loss in the Premier League, only surpassed by Everton £175m and Chelsea £112m. This is concerning if they cannot compensate with player sales (as Chelsea do).

The £79m revenue fall in the last three years is the worst of the Big Six with only Manchester United also experiencing a decrease in that period. Despite the impact of the pandemic, all the others have significantly grown their revenue, most notably Liverpool £126m and Tottenham Hotspur £86m

Commercial is the most important revenue stream at 41%, having overtaken broadcasting 35%, followed by match day 23% and player loans 1%.

Commercial income is still sixth highest in England, around half of Manchester United £279m. Also a long way behind Manchester City £250m and Liverpool £214m, though within striking distance of Chelsea £170m and Spurs £162m.

As matches continue to be played without fans, Arsenal are operating without one of their key revenue streams. To illustrate the importance of match day revenue, it accounted for 23% of the club’s revenue in 2019/20, the second highest in the Money League.

The £343m revenue remains 6th highest in the Premier League. They are comfortably ahead of 7th placed Everton £186m, but the gaps to the top five are equally large, e.g. around £150m below the top three clubs (United £509m, Liverpool £490m and Manchester City £482m).

Their ranking in the Deloitte Money League fell from 5th in 2011 to 11th in 2020, while their revenue was £95m higher than 10th placed club in 2016.

They have earned €214m from Europe in the last five years, the lowest of the Big Six and far below the likes of Manchester City €390m, Liverpool €310m and Spurs €299m. There has been a clear drop-off in the last three years when Arsenal have failed to qualify for the Champions League.

It will not have escaped Arsenal fans’ attention that their North London rivals revenue has overtaken them in the last two years. Not only is the gap now £51m, but Spurs are ahead in all three revenue streams: match day £16m, broadcasting £17m and commercial £18m.

[WG: Understandably, Arsenal fans are concerned about what is happening on and off the pitch. The finger points at one person: franchise owner ‘Silent’ Stan Kroenke].

It's no deal say Spurs insiders over Taiwanese takeover

Senior figures at Tottenham Hotspur insisted on Friday that they had not been informed of any deal to sell Daniel Levy’s stake in the club. A business group, Eight Sports Capital — which is said to include a billionaire Taiwanese financier — claimed that it had an agreement in place to buy a 24.99 per cent stake in ENIC, the club’s majority owners, from Levy, who owns 29.88 per cent. The Times has been told Ng Wing Fai and Brooklyn Earick form part of the group, having both been linked previously to potential takeovers of the Premier League club. The Taiwanese businessman, Richard Tsai, is also said to be part of the consortium. He is reportedly worth £7 billion. Last year Earick, the former DJ and tech entrepreneur, was part of an attempted £4.5 billion takeover, which was “unequivocally rejected” by Spurs. An ENIC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that neither ENIC nor THFC are aware of any sale by Daniel Levy’s Family Trust of its minority stake in ENIC, THFC’...

Reports about Charlton sale exaggerated

Reports have appeared in The Guardian and elsewhere that Charlton has been put up for sale. Richard Cawley is an authoritative local journalist who runs a South London Sport substack site. He reached out to the club yesterday evening to ask for comment on The Guardian’s article. Early indications from the club have been that nothing has changed since the story about them seeking investment, except that it is now a different company doing it. Charlton have since managed to consolidate their place in the Championship, avoiding an instant return to League One, with their women’s side promoted to the WSL, returning to the top flight for the first time since 2007, although staying there is likely to be costly. It would be counter-intuitive for owners Global Football Partners not to progress the club when looking for investment, that the focus remains on driving it forward, that their spend this summer is in line with long-term planning and will see an increase in wages spent on players...

Hull City's 'strange' loan

When football finance guru Kieran Maguire seems flashing lights in a club's loan deal, I become concerned. He is the leading football finance expert in the UK. Hull City have borrowed £55m against their stadium and training ground yet they should get £30m from the Premier League before long. What is going on? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cpwel48y51do

The Political Economy of Football V2

Search This Blog