Arsenal Finances 2022/23

Empire State Of Mind

Arsenal’s 2022/23 financial results cover an exhilarating season, when the club led the Premier League table for a lengthy period, before eventually finishing in an impressive second place, thus qualifying for the lucrative Champions League.

They had already returned to Europe last season, reaching the last 16 of the Europa League, though they were eliminated in the early stages of both domestic cups.

Profit/(Loss) 2022/23

Arsenal’s pre-tax loss increased from £45m to £52m, despite (football) revenue rising £96m (26%) from £369m to a new club record £465m, as profit from player sales halved from £22m to £11m and operating expenses shot up £89m (21%) from £432m to £521m. Net interest payable also slightly increased from £5m to £6m.

The club was at pains to emphasise that the financial result was adversely impacted by an £18m impairment to write-down the value of certain player registrations, compared to just £2m the previous year.

Excluding impairment, the pre-tax loss improved from £43m to £34m, which is obviously better than the reported figures, but is still a sizeable deficit.

All three of Arsenal’s main revenue streams saw good growth with both commercial and match day reaching new club highs, though the largest increase came in broadcasting, which rose £45m (31%) from £146m to £191m.

Commercial increased £27m (19%) from £142m to £169m, while match day was up £24m (29%) from £79m to £103m. Player loans income dropped from £2.0m to £1.5m.

Investment in the squad led to increases in both wages, up £23m (11%) from £212m to £235m, and player amortisation, up £14m (12%) from £125m to £139m. In addition, there was significant growth in other operating expenses, which shot up £39m (52%) from £73m to £112m. The only cost that reduced was depreciation, which fell £2m (12%) from £19m to £17m.

Only eight Premier League clubs have to date published accounts for 2022/23, but Arsenal’s £52m loss is one of the worst, only surpassed by Newcastle United £73m and Wolves £67m, though Aston Villa lost £117m per UEFA’s Club Finance report.

In contrast, Manchester City posted a huge £80m profit, which was £132m better than the Gunners’ result, while Brentford also made £9m.

Player Sales 2022/23

Arsenal’s profit from player sales halved, dropping from £22m to £11m, mainly from the sales of Mattéo Guendouzi to Marseille, Lucas Torreira to Galatasaray, Bernd Leno to Fulham and Konstantinos Mavropanos to Stuttgart, though none of these deals were for big money.