Arsenal have published their latest set of accounts for the 2023/24 financial year. While there was a loss £17.7million, this was down on the loss of £52.1million from the year before.
There was plenty of other positives too with revenue up from £466.7million to £616.6million. This rise comes courtesy of the club’s commercial strategy but also on-field performances such as finishing second in the league for the second straight season and reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League having not been in the competition for many years.
The Champions League participation was a factor in the matchday revenue increasing to £131.7million, compared to £102.6million from the year before. 25 home matches were played across all competitions in the men’s game.
Further to that, the European campaign increased broadcast revenue from £191.2million to £262.3million. However there were bigger costings in some areas which offset these revenue increases.
The most notable of course being the increase in wages, £234.8million from 2023 rising to £327.8million the following year. Signings of players like Declan Rice and Kai Havertz plus contract renewals for key stars and wage increases will have been the major contributors to this rise.
Arsenal managed to offload the likes of Granit Xhaka and Folarin Balogun for major fees, alongside other smaller sales of Matt Turner, Pablo Mari, Auston Trusty and Rob Holding add to that Kieran Tierney and Nuno Tavares loan fees for their temporary moves to Real Sociedad and Nottingham Forest. This meant player trading profit went up from £12.2million to £52.5million.
There is a good chance this will increase next year when the sales of Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Aaron Ramsdale are taken into account. With that in mind it offers hope that there could be room for more spending in players in the future, especially with Thomas Partey, Jorginho and Tierney’s significant wage packets coming off the bill ahead of their contract expirations.
