Blackburn Rovers Finances 2022/23

When The Music Stops

Blackburn Rovers’ financial results for 2022/23 covered a season when they finished seventh in the Championship, narrowly missing out on the play-offs. This was the club’s best performance since they were promoted from League One in 2018.

Under former Danish international Jon Dahl Tomasson, Rovers played “an exciting brand of modern and fluid football”, which also took them to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they only lost to a last minute goal against Sheffield United.

However, the feel good factor did not last long, as a disillusioned Tomasson left Ewood Park mid-season after he was given a reduced transfer budget, which meant that the club had to pull out of a couple of important deals just as the players were about to put pen to paper.

The Dane was replaced in February by former Birmingham City manager, John Eustace, who managed to guide the club to safety, but a finishing place of 19th was way below expectations after the previous year’s performance.

Legal Matter

Rovers had to cut back on spending after an Indian government agency prevented Venky’s, the club’s owners, from remitting money to the club, while it queried the application of funds by one of its subsidiaries.

As a result, Venky’s had to apply for special approval to send money, which was granted, thus allowing the owners to provide £11m of funding before Christmas to cover day-to-day requirements, including wages, utilities and suppliers.

In March Venky’s said that the Indian court case was now only related to “technical and procedural issues and should have no future impact on the owners being able to continue to fund the club”, suggesting that the restrictions are hopefully now at an end.

So let’s take a look at how this legal issue impacted Rover’s finances during 2022/23.

Profit/(Loss) 2022/23

Rovers’ pre-tax loss nearly doubled, rising by £9.7m from £11.2m to £20.9m, despite revenue rising £4.4m (26%) from £16.6m to £21.0m, mainly because profit from player sales dropped £9.7m from £10.1m to just £349k.

In addition, operating expenses increased by £3.5m (9%) from £38.4m to £41.9m, while the prior year included £0.3m other operating income.

All three revenue streams increased. Match day led the way, rising £1.6m (50%) from £3.4m to £5.0m, but there was also good growth in commercial, up £1.3m (28%) from £4.9m to £6.2m, and broadcasting, up £1.3m (15%) from £8.4m to £9.7m.

Rovers’ wage bill rose £1.4m (6%) from £24.4m to £25.8m, but player amortisation fell again by £0.6m (15%) from £4.0m to £3.4m. There was sizeable growth in other expenses, which were up by almost a third, rising £2.8m (31%) from £8.8m to £11.6m.

Very few clubs make money in the incredibly competitive Championship, but Rovers’ £20.9m loss was firmly in the bottom half of the division in 2022/23, only surpassed by five clubs.