Aberdeen’s 2023/24 accounts covered a season that was a bit of a mixed bag. As chief executive Alan Burrows said, “The 2023/24 campaign wasn’t without its challenges. We finished seventh in the Scottish Premiership and had to change managers mid-season, which is not where any club ever wants to be.”
On the other hand, the club played in a European group stage
for the first time in fifteen years, though they did not progress to the
knockout stages of the Europa Conference League.
In 2019 Dave Cormack, an Aberdonian and lifelong Dons fan,
replaced Stewart Milne as chairman after 22 years. Major League Soccer side
Atlanta United acquired a minority stake (less than 10%) as part of a strategic
alliance between the two clubs.
This group provided £5m, which helped finance development of
the training ground, and significant funding since the initial investment.
Largely due to the European group stage football and
domestic cup runs, Aberdeen’s revenue shot up by £7.8m (50%) from £15.8m to a
club record £23.6m.
However, they still swung from a £1.1m profit to a £0.9m
loss, mainly because profit from player sales dropped from £7.5m to £1.3m. In
addition, operating expenses increased by £3.8m (17%) from £22.0m to £25.8m.
All three of Aberdeen’s revenue streams increased, in fact
rising to all-time highs. Broadcasting was the star of the show, more than
doubling from £3.3m to £7.4m, but gate receipts also rose £2.7m (66%) from
£4.1m to £6.8m. Commercial was up £1.0m (12%) from £8.4m to £9.4m.
Although it’s never great to lose money, Aberdeen’s £0.9m
loss was actually one of the better results in the Scottish Premiership, though
not all clubs have published their accounts for 2023/24 yet.
Most Scottish clubs run a tight ship, so their deficits are
on the low side, with the notable exception of Rangers, who posted a fairly
horrific £17.3m loss last season. This was in stark contrast to Celtic, who
made a £17.8m profit. Aberdeen have only
been profitable twice in the last decade, though most of the losses in this
period have been quite small, so the aggregate deficit in this period was just
£8.9m. Next season’s figures will be
adversely impacted by the lack of European football, but will be boosted by
Miovski’s club record sale to Girona.
Player trading and
development
Aberdeen’s focus on player trading has started to bear fruit
in the last few years, as the club has made some decent gains from player
trading, especially the club record £7m sale of Miovski after these accounts
closed. In the last five years,
Aberdeen’s £12.5m profit from player sales was six times as much as Hearts’
£2.1m.
Where home grown talent is not thought to be available in
particular positions, Aberdeen have also continued to supplement their
professional squads by scouting young players from other clubs and bringing
them to Pittodrie. Aberdeen now have the
advantage of being able to demonstrate that they can provide a good platform
and environment in which young players can develop and then move to a bigger
club when the time is right.
As it stands, Aberdeen’s £23.6m revenue is the third highest
in Scotland, which Burrows pointed out was “a record not only for Aberdeen, but
to date the highest of any club in Scotland outside Rangers and Celtic.”
However, their significant competitive challenge is
highlighted by the veritable abyss between their revenue and the huge sums
generated by the big two Glasgow clubs. In fact, they are over £100m below
Celtic’s £125m, while Rangers’ £88m is nearly four times as much.
Broadcasting revenue
The Big Two in Scotland dominate the broadcasting revenue
stream, so Celtic earned £36m last season, followed by Rangers’ £24m. Aberdeen’s
£7.4m was more than Hearts’ £5.6m, as their rivals were eliminated in the
Europa Conference play-offs.
The SPFL has a long-term TV rights contract with Sky Sports,
extended to 2029. Even after an increase in the payment, this deal is only
worth around £36m a year (including sponsorship). That is obviously far below the Big Five
leagues, especially the Premier League’s massive £3.9 bln, but it is also less
than the likes of Belgium’s Pro League £103m and Poland’s Ekstraklasa £67m.
Aberdeen’s €7.9m Europe TV money in the last five years is
less than a tenth of Celtic and Rangers, who received €99m and €85m
respectively. They were slightly ahead of Hearts’ €6.5m with the rest of the
Scottish clubs nowhere.
Aberdeen’s average attendance increased from 15,636 to
16,055, as the club benefited from its focus on fan engagement and experience.
Initiatives such as Group Ticketing and the Family Zone continued to support
growth, while the free AberDNA Under 12 scheme has around 11,000 members,
nurturing the next generation of fans. However,
this was still only fifth highest in Scotland: obviously miles below Celtic
58,867 and Rangers 49,106, but also lower than Hearts 18,402 and Hibernian
16,933.
Aberdeen have been looking for a new stadium since 2009, but
plans have been put on hold with the club instead looking to upgrade Pittodrie.
Aberdeen’s wage bill rose £0.8m (7%) from £11.9m to a new
club record £12.7m, due to continued investment in the first team squad and
higher bonuses for the achievements in the Europa Conference League. Aberdeen’s £12.7m wage bill is still a fair
way below Hearts’ £16.5m, so it remains the fourth highest in Scotland.
In the past, Aberdeen have pointed out the difficulties of
maintaining a competitive squad, particularly with rising wages in the English
market, perhaps best evidenced when Adam Rooney moved to Salford City in 2018
for a higher salary, even though they were playing in England’s fifth tier at
the time.
Signings in the last few seasons have highlighted the need
for Aberdeen to look for talent in less well-known markets, where they can get
more bang for their buck. As a result, players have arrived from smaller
European countries, such as Hungary, Finland, Poland, Slovenia and Serbia.
Aberdeen’s £5.3m debt was the third highest in Scotland,
though a fair way behind Rangers £27.8m and Dundee United £11.5m (which
included £10.1m owned to owner Mark Ogren).
Aberdeen’s owners have provided around £20m of funding in
the last decade, though almost all of this has come in the last six years with
£19.1m and only £1.2m in the preceding 5-year period. That said, most of this
was injected in 2018/19 and 2019/20 with £14.9m, essentially to finance the new
training facility. They also put in around £3m to cover losses during the
pandemic.
The financials are pretty good, but it is worth noting that
even after setting records for every revenue stream, the club still made a
loss, though in fairness this was only £0.9m. This highlights the importance of player
trading to Aberdeen’s business model, so the club record sale of Bojan Miovski
to Girona, which will be booked in the 2024/25 accounts is very welcome (at
least from a financial perspective).
The board remains confident that Aberdeen can again qualify
for European competition, which is also very important for their finances. They are currently 3rd in the
table.
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