Profits without fan attendance

[Valentino's fast feet]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44850888

Interesting read that article. 10 of the 20 prem teams made a profit before tax without taking into account income from fan attendance. Obviously this is from the year we were in the champo so we aren't included. I've a feeling we would be in that group otherwise. Purely from the broadcasting deal. Bmouth made a profit without having to rely on their stadium attendance, and its much smaller than ours.

[bodacious benny]

Therein lies part of the problem. Wind the clock back a few years and fans were the life blood of clubs. Since the massive TV deals came in the needs of television companies have taken over from the needs of fans e.g. changing schedules, rediculous midweek journey's etc.

Just read a bit further, in 2016/17 the turnover of Man Utd was £581m, the turnover of EVERY Championship club combined (including us as it was the season we were in the Championship) was £692m. So Man U turnover was £84% of the entire Championship turnover.

Imagine how much money they could make if they were good

[lassassinblanc]

Well last season we had how many games on TV?

I believe you get 1.2m per match shown live on Sky/BT

Sure we'll have made back Rondon's loan fee by Saturday

[bodacious benny]

Well last season we had how many games on TV?

I believe you get 1.2m per match shown live on Sky/BT

Sure we'll have made back Rondon's loan fee by Saturday

It was a fair few, about 12 or something.

[Remember Colo]

Seeing the same issue with a lot of the north american leagues too. If I recall correctly, NFL teams break even before a single ticket is sold. The most profitable baseball teams have insane local tv contracts funding them. It will be interesting going forward as/if tv ratings continue to decrease if it compromises the financial systems that are driving sports.

[Don Sholeone]

This is why I find the "Boycott the pies" brigade hilarious, they don't have a clue

[TJR]

Unlike some are quite reliant on matchday income still. Relegation hit us hard in 2017 as the latest accounts showed. Even before that we were reliant on matchday income now though. In a way it's unsurprising, we forefit a lot of sponsor income to by allowing free advertising for Ashleys other businesses such as Sports Direct, Flannels etc. Also commercial income from kit sales will be lower than most clubs as we don't fully own our club shop due to the deal with Sports Direct.



The season ending 2018 accounts could potentially see us profitable without matchday income as it will be the first in which we benefit from the current Premier League TV deal. We missed out on the first season through relegation the season prior to it.

[Valentino's fast feet]

Where does that excel spreadsheet data come from though? I'm not saying it's not true, but from my point of view it's just numbers without any real context.

[Speedo]

Where does that excel spreadsheet data come from though? I'm not saying it's not true, but from my point of view it's just numbers without any real context.

That guy usually does his own stuff. But he’s calculated it wrong here - you have to subtracted matchday income from revenue first, and then figure out profit, and then apply tax. It won’t be miles different but will lower losses in years where we made profit with matchday income.

Regardless, however, it’s a bit of a false debate... Of course every team has matchday income, it’s because of all the fans and atmospheres etc that the TV money is worth so much. I’m not sure what value any of this analysis has beyond being a curio...

[Colly]

Exactly. Fans stop going and the TV deals plummet as no one wants to watch an empty stadium on TV. While I'd like to see cheaper tickets I don't feel particularly ripped off at Newcastle, my ticket is cheaper than it was ten years ago and now on monthly direct debit rather than all in one go.

[Speedo]

Exactly. Fans stop going and the TV deals plummet as no one wants to watch an empty stadium on TV. While I'd like to see cheaper tickets I don't feel particularly ripped off at Newcastle, my ticket is cheaper than it was ten years ago and now on monthly direct debit rather than all in one go.

That's it. I actually find it super frustrating, there are so many legitimate reasons to hate Ashley, so why do people need to complain about the stuff that's not that bad (ticket prices) and wacko conspiracy theories (Ashley pocketing TV money etc.)? Just undermines the cause.

[Colback's Orange Tufts]

Where does that excel spreadsheet data come from though? I'm not saying it's not true, but from my point of view it's just numbers without any real context.

That guy usually does his own stuff. But he’s calculated it wrong here - you have to subtracted matchday income from revenue first, and then figure out profit, and then apply tax. It won’t be miles different but will lower losses in years where we made profit with matchday income.

Regardless, however, it’s a bit of a false debate... Of course every team has matchday income, it’s because of all the fans and atmospheres etc that the TV money is worth so much. I’m not sure what value any of this analysis has beyond being a curio...

Yeah its a very superficial analysis. Tax for sure, but also if you had no fans, the cost base would surely be much lower (unless clubs strip out matchday profits in accounts!). You can't just take off revenue without also reflecting lower costs.

People suggesting Ashley has used nufc to buy HoF. I mean any money out of nufc would have to be a dividend. But moreover Sports Direct is a plc, if Ashley was injecting cash from nufc he'd have to issue a stock market announcement for the equity injection.

And yeah, ticket pricing is one of the things I wouldn't critisise Ashley for.