Brighton finances are Blooming

Brighton’s pre-tax profit surged from £24m to a very impressive £133m in 2022/23.  Revenue increased by £30m (17%) from £174m to £204m, which was the club’s highest ever, while profit from player sales just about doubled from £62m to £121m.  At the same time, Brighton managed to keep their costs under control, as operating expenses only rose £4m (2%) to £220m, while they had £2.5m net interest receivable.

Brighton’s £133m pre-tax profit was easily the best in last season’s Premier League, ahead of Manchester City £80m and Bournemouth £44m, though the latter was boosted by a £71m owner loan write-off.

In fact, Brighton’s £133m pre-tax profit is the second highest ever recorded in England, only surpassed by Tottenham’s £139m in 2017/18 (driven by Gareth Bale’s sale to Real Madrid). Only three English clubs have ever managed to post profits above £100m.

Brighton have generated the highest profit in the top flight over the last four seasons with a net £37m. Only two other clubs were in the black over this period, namely Brentford and Manchester City, while nine of them lost more than £200m.

The figures were also boosted by £25m other operating income, up from just £1m in the previous year, which included £23m compensation from Chelsea for Potter and his support staff.

The main driver of Brighton’s revenue growth was broadcasting, which rose £29m (23%) from £126m to £155m, due to the new Premier League deal, exacerbated by higher merit payments. Match day was also up, increasing by £4m (20%) from £21m to £25m.

Both of these revenue streams set new club records, but commercial was down £3m (11%) from £28m to £25m, as the previous season included £6.5m from the Monks Farm development project.

Player sales

Of course, Brighton’s profit owed a lot to excellent profit from player sales of £121m, which was almost twice as much as the prior year’s £62m. Substantial fees were received in the summer for Marc Cucurella to Chelsea, Yves Bissouma to Tottenham and Neal Maupay to Eveton, followed by Leandro Trossard to Arsenal in the January transfer window.

Brighton have now made a staggering £184m from player trading in the last two seasons, which is a dramatic improvement, e.g. in the previous eight years their profits from this activity were only £29m.

Brighton’s £155m broadcasting revenue is towards the upper end of the Premier League, though it was still only around half of Manchester City’s £299m.  TV money is very important to Brighton, contributing 76% of their total revenue last season, though they’re not alone here, as no fewer than nine clubs generate more than 70% from TV money.

Brighton’s 31,477 attendance was 13th highest in the Premier League, around 8,000 more than rivals Crystal Palace, albeit a fair way below many other clubs with seven of them having crowds above 50,000.

Wages

Brighton’s wage bill increased by £13m (11%) from £115m to £128m, which is a new club record, due to bonuses for a higher league position and qualifying for Europe, plus contract extensions.

This means that wages have grown by nearly two-thirds (£50m) from the first season in the Premier League five years ago, while they have more than quadrupled from the £31m in the last season in the Championship (excluding promotion bonus).

Despite this growth, Brighton’s wage bill of £128m is still one of the smallest in the Premier League with only three clubs below them. Finishing sixth in the Premier League with the 17th highest wages is clear evidence that the club has punched well above its weight.

Brighton were the second best club in the Premier League in terms of getting the most “bang for its buck”, only behind Brentford.

Brighton’s gross transfer spend has consistently been one of the lowest in the top flight, as seen by looking at the last four years. The only clubs that spent less than the Albion were the three promoted in 2021/22 plus Brentford and Crystal Palace.  This was miles below the likes of Chelsea £1.2 bn, Manchester City £744m, Arsenal £736m and Manchester United £698m.

Brighton amazingly had the least expensive squad in the Premier League, just below Brentford and newly promoted Nottingham Forest.

Debt and the benefactor

Brighton’s gross financial debt decreased by £36m from £409m to £373m, entirely provided by owner Tony Bloom in the shape of an interest-free, unsecured loan.  For the first time since Bloom made his first loan in 2007, the club was able to make a substantial repayment of £33m to its owner. In addition, a £3m bank loan was fully repaid.

Brighton’s debt is undoubtedly very high for a club of their size, though it is not an issue, so long as Bloom continues to provide support. The fact that his loan is interest-free gives Albion a competitive advantage against those rivals that have to pay interest on their loans.

Since Bloom became owner, the club’s available cash has almost entirely come from his pocket with just £17m from operating activities. This has largely been used for player purchases (£228m net) plus investment into the stadium and the training ground (£225m).

Brighton again confirmed that the club has complied with the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability (FFP) rules for 2022/23 and expects to comply for the foreseeable future.

This is obviously another very good set of financial results, as Brighton set new club records for revenue, player sales and profit for the second year in a row.

Thanks to the substantial player sales last summer and revenue from the Europa League campaign, this season should deliver another substantial profit, but the challenge for Brighton is to also maintain the success on the pitch.

Bloom, for one, is realistic about the club’s prospects, ““Our aim, naturally, is to carry on sustaining it for a long time to come, but I can’t guarantee anything and we know how competitive and tough the Premier League is.”