Leeds reap financial benefits of the Premier League
LEEDS UNITED will head into an important transfer window buoyed by financial results described by expert Kieran Maguire as “phenomenal by a non-‘Big Six’ club”.
They are the 16th Premier League club to announce last season’s figures and only the second, after Sheffield United, to turn an operating profit.
Chief executive Angus Kinnear also claimed their “social media reach and engagement” was “growing faster than any other football club in the world”.
Elland Road was only open to supporters for the final game of 2020-21, and then only 8,000. Even so, the Whites capitalised on their return to the top flight after 16 years away to make an operating profit of £5.5m.
They also exceeded on-field expectations, finishing ninth. Their £135m prize money more than made up for £35m in bonuses for avoiding relegation.
This summer Leeds need to recruit players better suited to new coach Jesse Marsch’s more direct style and if this season’s lessons are to be learnt, expand the 18-man senior squad predecessor Marcelo Bielsa insisted on. Marsch met the recruitment team on Wednesday.
They had the ninth highest commercial revenue of the 16 clubs – Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Burnley and West Bromwich Albion are yet to report – with merchandise sales up almost a third to £20.4m.
Lecturer Maguire, regarded by many as the country’s leading expert on football finance, commented: “If Leeds had a good season and got into Europe the numbers would rocket further.”
The wage bill rose £30m to £108m as the Whites committed to £99m of transfers including Rodrigo, Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and Raphinha. The cash spend was only £63m with £85m due in instalments on outstanding deals.
Most of the jump in income came from a 77 per cent rise in broadcast income, showing the importance of remaining in global domestic football’s most lucrative league.
Kinnear said the club’s “growing international appeal” reflected on social media “should prove a structural competitive advantage that can be leveraged to secure Premier League status over the long term.”