Bristol City’s 2023/24 accounts cover a season when they finished 11th in the Championship, an improvement of three places over 2022/23 and the club’s best performance for five seasons.
However, the board acknowledged that this campaign was still
below its aspirations, “Once again, the club found itself hovering around
mid-table for the majority of the campaign and whilst there was little threat
of relegation, there was not much excitement generated for a promotion push
either.”
This season will be City’s 10th in a row in the
Championship. During this time, they have not finished higher than 8th, so have
missed out on the play-offs every season. On the other hand, they have now
improved their league position three years in a row.
Bristol City have steadily managed to reduce their losses
from the record high of £38.4m in 2020/21, but they have still lost a hefty
£149m before tax in the last decade, when they only managed to generate a
profit once with £11m in 2018/19.
Bristol City’s pre-tax loss was slashed from £22.2m to
£3.3m, mainly thanks to profit from player sales more than doubling from £9.5m
to £21.7m, though revenue also rose £5.8m (16%) from £36.6m to a club record
£42.4m. Bristol City’s £3.3m pre-tax
loss is one of the best results achieved in the Championship in the last two
seasons.
The main driver of the higher revenue was commercial, which
rose £3.5m (17% ) from £21.4m to £24.9m, but there was also decent growth in
match day, up £1.4m (23%) from £6.3m to £7.7m, and broadcasting, up £0.8m (9%)
from £8.9m to £9.7m.
Commercial revenue
They have managed to grow revenue by £12.1m (40%) in the
last five years, which is pretty good going. It is worth noting the importance
of commercial income, which now accounts for 59% of total revenue, compared to
23% from broadcasting and 18% from match day.
City’s £24.9m commercial revenue is actually the highest in the Championship,
a fair way ahead of Norwich City £17.1m, Stoke City £16.9m, Sunderland £14.7m
and Middlesbrough £11.7m. To underline
the importance of commercial revenue to their business model, Bristol City
earned 59% of their total revenue from these activities, which is easily the
most in the Championship. The next highest are a long way back, i.e. Stoke City
54% and Swansea City 43%.
The growth was partly driven by more money for events staged
at the stadium, including gigs by Kings of Leon and Take That. Partly due to development at the Ashton Gate
stadium, commercial income has shot up by nearly 60% in the last two years. It
is likely to further increase with the new sports and convention centre.
Bristol City’s revenue is one of the highest in the
Championship – if you exclude the clubs that benefit from parachute payments,
who are at least £20m more in the first season after relegation, e.g. Norwich
City earned £73m in 2023/24. That said, City do enjoy a decent revenue
advantage over most clubs in the division, so arguably should be performing a
bit better than mid-table.
The club noted that the reduction in the loss was
“predominately due to the sale of Alex Scott to Bournemouth for a significant
sum of money”, which led to profit from player sales more than doubling from
£9.5m to £21.7m.
This was one of the best results in the Championship, where
clubs usually make very little from player trading. Traditionally, the only
ones that do well here are those that have recently been relegated from the
Premier League, which highlights another benefit such clubs enjoy on top of
parachute payments.
With the exception of Leeds United, no club without
parachute payments has generated more revenue in the Championship than Bristol
City’s £42m last season. In fact, City have four of the top 20 all time
revenues if parachutes are excluded.
City’s average attendance increased by 10% from 20,573 to
22,554, which is the club’s highest since City were a top flight team in
1978/79. Little wonder that the club described the level of support received
from the fans as “fantastic”. Despite
the growth, City’s 22,554 attendance was only mid-table in the Championship in
2023/24, a fair way below then likes of Sunderland 41,028, Leeds United 35,989
and Leicester City 31,238.
Ashton Gate is a multi-use stadium, which is shared with the
Bristol Bears rugby union team with a capacity of 26,462. It hosted 38 matches
in total in 2023/24. As a sign of its possibilities, it will be one of the
eight host venues for the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.
City’s £34.9m wages were a lot lower than the amounts paid
by those clubs benefiting from parachute payments, e.g. Burnley £54m in 2022/23
and Norwich City £52m last season. That
said, as it stands, City’s wage bill is actually the 6th highest in the
Championship, the most paid by any non-parachute club, so they have an
advantage against most other teams in the division.
City’s £15.7m squad cost was the 9th highest in the
Championship, though a lot lower than the recently relegated clubs, e.g.
Burnley and Watford had £134m and £103m respectively in 2022/23.
Debt and the owner
City’s gross financial debt fell slightly from £96m to £95m,
with £92m of this owed to owner Steve Lansdown (via Pula Sports Ltd). City’s gross debt of £96m is one of the
highest in the Championship. However,
City’s debt is not really an issue, so long as Steve Lansdown remains a
friendly owner, which he has amply demonstrated by converting £74m of debt to
equity in the last five years, including £13m in 2023/24. (The
writer has been a satisfied client of Hargreaves Lansdown since the late
1980s).
For many years Bristol City have been dependent on funding
from their owners, as noted by CFO Tom Rawcliffe, “The financial support
provided by the Lansdown family continues to be significant, as evidenced by
their commitment throughout the 2023/24 season, as well as their investment
during the 2024 summer transfer window.”
He added, “We remain extremely thankful for their
ownership”, which is fair comment, given that Lansdown has put in around £268m
to date, which is a huge amount in anyone’s book. To highlight the level of Lansdown’s
commitment, in the five years up to 2022/23, City benefited from £121m of money
from the owner, which was the second highest in the Championship.
Lansdown has indicated that the owners would be open to a
sale (or partial sale) of the club, though this would only be to the “right
partner”. That said, his father first
mentioned the possibility of a sale back in 2021, “We are actively looking for
other investors to come into the football club to expand our brand and grow the
club.”
Part of the club’s strategy has been to invest in the
academy, where it said “the talent pathway continues to be a source of pride.”
It’s obviously really difficult to compete with clubs
benefiting from parachute payments that have a much larger budget, but Bristol
City are best placed financially of the non-parachute clubs, so they really
should mount a decent challenge for the play-offs. Maybe this is the season when they get it
right on the pitch?
The football regulator bill is getting a mauling in the
Lords from friends of the Premier League, but there is the potential for
parachute payments to be ended or, more likely, reduced.
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