The authoritative Swiss Ramble provides an in depth and forensic analysis of the finances of Arsenal: https://swissramble.substack.com/p/arsenal-finances-202122.
He notes: 'Although Arsenal managed to significantly reduce their loss to £45.5m, this was still nothing to write home about. On the one hand, it is much better than Manchester United’s £150m loss for 2021/22; on the other hand, it is much worse than Manchester City’s £42m profit.'
Arsenal have now lost money four years, adding up to a shortfall of more than a quarter of a billion pounds in this period (£259m). This has marked a big change from the club’s traditional sustainable model, as evidenced by 16 consecutive profitable seasons up to 2018, during which they had a £393m surplus. Before the recent challenges, the last time Arsenal had posted a loss was way back in 2002.
Despite the growth in 2021/22, Arsenal £369m revenue is still £54m (13%) lower than the £423m peak in 2017. There have been big reductions since then in broadcasting £53m (26%) and match day £21m (21%), mainly due to no European football, partly offset by growth in commercial £24m (21%).
In terms of 2021/22, Arsenal revenue is more than £200m below the two Manchester clubs (City £613m and United £583m), which really highlights the great job that Arteta is doing with the team this season.
Although Arsenal’s much reduced loss is clearly a step in the right direction, a £45.5m loss is still not great. However, this is partly a result of the major investment in the squad, which was required to enable the club to once again compete at the top of the league.
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