Palace move towards financial sustainability

Crystal Palace 2022/23 revenue was £180m up 12%, reports Kieran Maguire. Wages (staff and players) were £130m up 5%. Player purchases £56m. Player sales £0.3m

Revenue up mainly due to higher income of £15m as higher international deals in Premer League and as the end of the Covid rebate to broadcasters kicks in.

Steve Parish pay was up £457k to £2.157m.   Worth every penny?   Some fans might have their doubts to put it mildly.

Player purchases £56million. Players who originally cost the club £52m were sold/left the club for £300k.

Progress towards becoming more sustainable moved forward significantly over the past year, with senior players departing at the end of their contracts and an overhaul of the squad age.

That bears out in their latest set of financial results, which show a pre-tax loss of £24.2 million ($30m) for the 12 months to June 30, 2022, down by £16 million from a year earlier (£40.3m).

This latest set of accounts shows Palace’s strategy, although in its early stages, appears to be bearing fruit. But there is a long way to go and possibly some tough decisions still to take.

Football clubs rarely make a profit, but Palace’s losses have reduced, their wage bill for players has dropped from £112.3m to £101m, and the ratio of wages to turnover has reduced by over 20 per cent, from 84 per cent to 63 per cent. Overall the wage bill fell to £123.8m from £130.3m.

Essentially, the amount of money Palace are making from TV deals, gate receipts and sponsorship is greater than the day-to-day running of the club, but when the cost of players’ contracts is taken into account, it is lower by £20m.

As ever, TV money is critical to the financial stability of the club — as it is for almost every Premier League club — and accounts for the overwhelming majority of revenue.

“If you look at top-level revenue, profit and loss and the investment in, they are in an OK position,” says football finance expert Dan Plumley. “The losses have reduced. It’s OK, it’s a usual set of accounts for a Premier League club outside the big six.

“The critical thing is the broadcasting and the principal risk is divisional status. You have to retain Premier League status year after year or you’ve got a problem on your hands.

“Turnover is up, losses have reduced and new investment has enabled the balance sheet to improve. Coming out of a really challenging couple of years with the pandemic, it’s a relatively OK set of accounts for a football club.”

Palace’s position in the Premier League may look a little perilous, but the leading South London club have enough quality to stay up and attempt to move forward on the pitch next season.