City overtake United in the financial stakes

Manchester City’s annual accounts, published in brief this week, revealed a record-breaking year at the Etihad Stadium.

Total income for 2020-21 stood at £569.8 million in a campaign that ended with defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League final. United, meanwhile, were left trailing in their wake with annual revenues totalling £494 million.

City’s financial growth over the last decade has been unparalleled. A club that failed to even make Deloitte’s Football Money League top 20 for 2006-07, lagging behind Celtic and Marseille, has been transformed since the takeover of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan with Abu Dhabi’s millions in 2008. From an annual turnover of £87 million in 2008-09 to almost £570 million last season, income has gone up more than six-fold in 12 years.

City’s run to the Champions League final was the undoubted driver for their achievement,  KPMG, the renowned accountancy firm, says that was worth £108 million in prize money from UEFA, while a quirk of timing only increased broadcast streams in the club’s accounts.

Commercial revenue was also up to a new high of £271 million, according to the club’s accounts. An army of 31 global partners, including a host associated with the club’s Abu Dhabi ownership, now work with City and allow them to eclipse United’s reduced commercial income of £232 million.

Put it all together and there might not be a club in world football to trump City’s accounts, which showed a small profit of £2.4 million after the brutal losses of £126 million in the previous calendar year.

A season spent playing behind closed doors did an awful lot more to hurt Manchester United than it did Manchester City, and makes it a slightly misleading picture. In any normal campaign, United can expect to make twice City’s match-day revenue.

“COVID-19 hit United far harder than it hit City,” says Kieran Maguire, the football finance guru. “United would normally make around £110 million from ticket sales in a season. City typically get half of United’s match-day revenue because they’ve got a different fan profile: Fewer corporate fans, fewer international fans.

United have always traditionally been the most attractive option to sponsors. They have the history, the fanbase and the appeal to ensure commercial backers are never in short supply. Those with a cynical eye, of course, will point towards City’s commercial partners and where in the world they are based. They have Etihad Airways as shirt sponsors, and also have link-ups with Visit Abu Dhabi and Expo 2020 Dubai.   There is little question City have maximised opportunities with related parties in the UAE but their on-field success has also brought in significant sums from the likes of Nissan and Nexen Tyres.

United saw a year-on-year fall in commercial revenue but they will point to the make-up of their sponsors, typically blue-chip firms that were exposed to the pandemic, as a reason for the stumble.