On the pitch, Arsenal are in rude health, seeing off all comers in recent weeks with a string of breathtaking displays.
Off the pitch, a snapshot of the health of the finances was provided last week with the publication of the club’s 2022/23 financial year, an accounting period that covered a second-placed Premier League finish, and a trip to the last 16 of the Europa League.
The headline that emerged from the results was that the club had posted a loss of £52million, up from the £45m the previous year. That was despite football revenues increasing by 26 per cent, up from £369.1m in 2022 to £464.6m in 2023.
Heavy and sustained investment in the playing squad was a mitigating factor in the losses, as the club looks to invest from a position of strength and challenge at the top of the table having been outsiders for several seasons prior, missing out on the significant Champions League income upon which some of their rivals have come to rely.
The losses brought into focus the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), financial controls which allow for a maximum of £105m in losses over a three-year period. That £105m doesn’t tell the whole story, with allowable deductions including investment into infrastructure, the women’s team, the community, and the youth academy.
In Arsenal’s case, the club had lost, collectively, around £188m over that three-year period but allowable deductions of more than £110m over the three years, as well as the allowable deduction of the impact of the pandemic, still counted in the three-year period due to the 2019/20 and 2020/21 season being assessed as one, means that the club is PSR compliant.
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