Manchester City has claimed a new Premier League benchmark of £712.8m (€817.2m/$888.5m) in revenue, along with reporting club record profits for the second successive year, as chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak stated it will seek to further build by “doubling down on the proven philosophies and practices” put in place.
City’s Annual Report for the 2022-23 season covers a historic campaign in which the club won its first UEFA Champions League, a third successive Premier League title and a seventh FA Cup. Total revenue for the year ended June 30, 2023 hit £712.8m, an increase of £99.8m, or 16.3%, over the prior year, with growth across all revenue streams comprised of commercial, matchday and broadcasting revenues.
This figure was enough to eclipse Manchester United’s record revenue of £648.4m for the 2023 financial year, which was reported last month. City secured £341.4m in commercial revenue and £299.4m in broadcast income.
Matchday revenue stood at £71.9m, versus last year’s figure of £54.5m. This came as 31 home games were played at the Etihad Stadium across all four competitions, up from the 2021-22 season’s 27 home games.
A record net profit of £80.4m has been set, up from last year’s £41.7m. The club has now reported a profit in every year since the 2014-15 season, with the exception of the short-term impact of COVID-19 to the business, which saw a loss of £126m reported for 2019-20.
City’s Annual Report comes amid a busy time for the club in terms of infrastructure development. City last month received the final green light for its Etihad Stadium expansion project, while the Co-op Live scheme marked another key milestone in its development.
Approved proposals include several connected all-weather facilities, fully integrated into the stadium, centred around an expanded North Stand with one larger, single upper tier above the existing lower tier, increasing capacity from the current 53,400 to 61,968.
Above the upper tier there will be a sky bar with views overlooking the pitch as well as a stadium roof walk experience. A covered City Square fan zone, with capacity for 3,000 people and a wide variety of food and drink outlets, a new club shop, museum, workspace and a 400-bed hotel will also be constructed as part of the club’s development.
Located adjacent to the Etihad Stadium, the first seats were installed at Co-op Live ahead of the arena’s opening in April. Co-op Live is a joint venture between Oak View Group and City Football Group and will be the UK’s largest live entertainment arena when completed.
Commenting on the Annual Report, Al Mubarak said: “Since 2008, we have overseen over £700m of investment into football and entertainment infrastructure on the Etihad Campus and in East Manchester. Our long-term infrastructure investment strategy is now annually contributing significantly to the sustainable football, commercial, and community outcomes that we are witnessing.
“Last year, whilst work continued at pace on the Etihad Campus with the building of the Co-op Live arena, we announced that our infrastructure strategy will be expanded still further through more than £300m of investment into East Manchester via the club’s entertainment destination, delivering 2,600 new jobs, prioritised for people from Greater Manchester.”
He continued: “In the aftermath of the UEFA Champions League win in Turkey and the completion of ‘The Treble’ the question I was asked most often, was ‘How do you top that?’ The answer is by doubling down on the proven philosophes and practices that have brought us this success and to challenge ourselves to continue to constantly innovate in order to achieve new levels of performance both on and off the field.
“We will continue to question all the industry norms, we will evaluate our successes and learn from any failures. We will not be afraid to set new goals and develop new strategies that deliver for our club, its communities and stakeholders and especially for the fans.
“Success today simply means further investment for tomorrow. Our financial health and on field success mean everyone connected to Manchester City can look forward to the future with excitement. Our collective achievements give me huge confidence that together we can accomplish even more in the years to come.”
The Annual Report is the first to be published since the Premier League in February charged City with more than 100 breaches of its financial rules following a four-year investigation into the Abu Dhabi-owned club’s finances dating back to the 2009-10 season.
The charges are referred to in the ‘Risks and Uncertainties’ section of the report, where City reiterates its confidence that it will be cleared in the matter. The club said: “In February 2023, in response to the charges, the club issued a public statement that it welcomes the review of this matter by an independent commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.”
