Yesterday’s FA Cup result at Old Trafford said something about the relative states of Brighton and Manchester United, one club on an upward trajectory, the other sinking into a Slough of Despind. Here are some extracts from the Swiss Ramble’s assessment of Brighton, much more in depth analysis on his Substack page.
Tony Bloom outlined the club’s approach, “We want to be a
sustainable football club. We will have seasons where we lose a lot of money,
as well as some seasons where we make a lot of money. But over time, if we stay
in the Premier League, we will be sustainable and we will be profitable.”
However, the owner added, “Most of our rivals are not. So
it’s really tough to compete with that.”
Player sales model
Brighton have now made a staggering £351m from player sales
in the last four years, which is a dramatic change in approach, e.g. in the
previous eight years their profits from this activity were only £29m
In the three seasons up to 2023/24, only two clubs in the
Premier league generated more profit from player sales than Brighton’s £294m,
namely Chelsea £339m and Manchester City £328m. These three clubs were at least
£100m higher than the rest of the league.
In fact, the Albion made more than Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester
United combined.
Excluding money from the New Monks Farm project, Brighton’s
revenue has increased by £79m (55%) from the 2018/19 pre-pandemic level of
£143m to £222m. All three revenue streams have increased in this time with
broadcasting the main driver, rising £38m to £151m, though commercial has
nearly quadrupled from £11m to £43m, while match day is up 50% to £28m.
As a sign of how far Brighton have come, they had the 21st
highest revenue in the world in 2023/24, according to the Deloitte Money
League. This is their highest ever
ranking, two places better than the previous season, putting them ahead of
clubs like Napoli, Roma, Eintracht Frankfurt and Benfica.
Wages
Brighton’s wage bill significantly increased by £19m (13%)
from £146m to £165m, which is a new club record, due to investment in the
squad, bonuses for the 8th placed finish in the Premier League (and 5th in the
WSL) and an increase in employer NI costs.
This means that wages have more than doubled from the first season in
the Premier League in 2017/18, while they are up £50m (43%) in the last four
years alone.
Following last season’s rise, Brighton’s £165m wage bill is
currently 10th highest in the Premier League, i.e. the same as their revenue
ranking. However, for some perspective,
the top four clubs all paid at least twice as much, namely Manchester City
£408m, Liverpool £386m, Chelsea £338m and Arsenal £328m.
In the last ten years Brighton’s available cash has come
from a variety of sources: £375m from player sales, £278m from the owner and
£104m from operating activities. This
has largely been spent on £585m player purchases and £133m investment into
infrastructure, while the cash balance has increased by £34m.
Brighton have invested significant sums in infrastructure,
adding up to a hefty £286m since 2008/09, as they built a new stadium and
training ground.
The Bloom effect
Bythe Swiss Ramble’s reckoning, Bloom has provided nearly
half a billion Pounds to Brighton via £406m of loans and £88m of share capital
(including £30m loans converted into equity).
The Zurich-based guru says: ‘By anyone’s standards, Bloom has been a
fantastic owner, not just for his vision and ability to execute on his plans,
but also his financial support.’
The Swiss Ramble concludes, ‘Although a £56m pre-tax loss is
never going to be great news, the pain is softened when it follows a massive
£208m of profits in the previous two years.
To a large extent, the club had to spend big, setting new club records
for transfers and wages, as it pushed to keep pace with wealthier clubs.
The business model is reliant on player trading, so a
reduction in profits from player sales last season contributed to the loss.
There’s always a danger here, as the well can run dry (see Southampton), but
Brighton are canny operators.
Brighton are fortunate to have an owner like Tony Bloom, who
has provided the substantial funding and data smarts that have enabled the club
to become a mainstay in England’s top flight.’
That said, Bloom is aware that the club cannot afford to
rest on its laurels, “We have to always look to improve and innovate. If we
stand still - and this is talked about in a lot of businesses, but is
particularly true in football, and particularly in the Premier League - our
competitors are fiercely competitive, and they are looking to overtake us. They
are trying to get stronger all the time, so we have to do likewise, and ideally
we’re going ahead even faster than the other teams.”
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