The Political Economy of Football V2

Their 2019/20 accounts show that Bournemouth have recorded their fourth annual loss on the bounce. The headline figure is a pre-tax loss of £60.1 million — significantly worse than the £32.4 million loss after tax the club recorded in 2018-19. Revenue was down over a quarter.    Matchday income was down 30% to just £3.5m for the season. The small stadium means that the club is always lowest ticket revenue earner in the Premier League. Bournemouth generated over half a billion pounds in TV money during their time in the Premier League.   Bournemouth’s reliance on TV rights money cannot be over-stated. In 2018-19, 88 per cent of their earnings came directly from the Premier League and that figure stands at 85 per cent for last season’s accounts — even without that deferred TV money from Project Restart. In total, the club are understood to have lost approximately £250,000 in match day, commercial and retail revenue for each of the five Premier League home games they h...

Championship club Millwall have lost £8m in revenue because of the pandemic and their American owner has had to pump more money into the club:  https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/millwall-chairman-john-berylson-opens-on-the-challenges-of-owning-a-football-club-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

The authoritative and tireless Swiss Ramble takes a look at earnings for English clubs from Europe at the quarter final stage. What is clear is that the Champions League remains highly lucrative, reinforcing the financial strength of the leading clubs. The revenue is more important than ever during this challenging period, as games continue to be played without fans, adversely impacting match day income. As it stands (at quarter-final stage), English clubs have earned the following amounts from Europe: Manchester City €92m, Liverpool €90m, Chelsea €89m, Manchester United €68m, Arsenal   €25m, Tottenham Hotspur   €20m and Leicester City €17m. Of course, a club could earn significantly more from Europe if it makes further progress, e.g. if it managed to win the Champions League, it would earn an additional €31m prize money (€12m for reaching the semi-final plus €19m for winning the tournament). Manchester City have earned the most in the Champions League with €92.3m, compr...

The Athletic looks at the plight of Huddersfield after their time in the top flight.   Here are a few extracts. Huddersfield’s financial health has become the greatest point of discussion among supporters. The cash-rich Premier League days, when annual turnover peaked at £125 million in 2017-18, are a fading memory, with belts tightened transfer window on transfer window. Owner Phi Hodgkinson was aware relegation would require big decisions when taking on a majority shareholding following that 2019 relegation but had hoped he could still see Huddersfield return to the Premier League. They have not come remotely close to that during two difficult seasons back in the Championship, and a worldwide pandemic has placed the club under further strain. “It’s not just parachute money we’ve had to give back and loss of revenue, there’s also the fact the transfer market completely bombed,” said Hodgkinson. “We had players we knew we were selling and we didn’t get what we were ...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reports from Zurich on the 2019/20 accounts of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Since being bought by Chinese investment group Fosun International in July 2016, Wolves is a club transformed, helped by a close relationship with super-agent Jorge Mendes. Under charismatic manager Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolves can realistically compete for European qualification. Fosun’s strategy of “strong investment into the squad” has led to £100m net losses in the past four years, but the gamble paid-off with promotion and European qualification As a sign of how far Wolves have come, their £133m revenue means that they are 29th in the Deloitte Money League, which ranks clubs worldwide The club swung from £20m profit before tax to £40m loss, as the pandemic led to revenue dropping £40m (23%) from £173m to £133m and profit on player sales fell £2m to £10m, while expenses rose £18m (11%), mainly due to investment in the squad. Loss after tax £39m Significantly impacted by COVID...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews the latest accounts of Leicester City from his base in Zurich. The loss before tax widened from £20m to £67m, as the pandemic led to revenue dropping £28m (16%) from £178m to £150m, though profit on player sales rose £5m to £63m. Expenses rose £23m (9%), mainly due to investment in the squad. Loss after tax was £60m. Revenue was significantly impacted by COVID, the main driver of the club’s revenue decrease was broadcasting income, which dropped £20m (16%) from £128m to £108m, while commercial fell £7m (18%) from £36m to £29m and match day was down £2m (11%) from £15m to £13m. Of course, all clubs have been adversely impacted by COVID, so Leicester’s £67m loss is far from unusual with no fewer than seven clubs posting losses above £50m.   Without COVID, Foxes revenue would have been £46m higher at £196m (10% more than 2019). £150m revenue is still £21m (16%) more than 2016, when they were crowned Premier League champions. However, much l...

The Athletic has published a fascinating in depth account of the administration process at Wigan Athletic.  I do find The Athletic good value with high standards of writing and I can recommend a subscription. Here are a few highlights which show just how dire Wigan's situation was and it's good to see it resolved. 'There have been plenty of bumps in the road over the last eight and a half months and the takeover is still not quite complete — although it is just a formality now — but when Wigan line up for their first game of next season they will do so at their own ground, having prepared at their own training ground, with a team stocked with talent from their own academy, with no debts and every chance of still being in League One. But Stanley [administrator] also cares about his reputation, so he wants people to know how he achieved this and why he believes he and his colleagues at business recovery firm Begbies Traynor are worth every penny of the £2 million or so they...