{"id":140568,"date":"2025-05-29T05:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T05:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/140568\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T05:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T05:11:14","slug":"arsenal-set-to-do-something-for-the-very-first-time-in-the-stan-kroenke-era-as-500m-barrier-smashed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/140568\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal set to do something for the very first time in the Stan Kroenke era as \u00a3500m barrier smashed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ahead of tomorrow night\u2019s Champions League final, Arsenal fans are wondering what might have been. But for Stan Kroenke, 2024-25 has been an unqualified financial success.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mikel Arteta<\/a> took the Gunners to the semi-finals of Europe\u2019s most illustrious competition for only the third time in the club\u2019s history, with Arsenal earning close to \u00a3100m in prize money<\/a> along the way.<\/p>\n

In the Premier League<\/a>, the North Londoners fell short too. That\u2019s three times in successive seasons they have finished as runners-up, which equals an all-time English record.<\/p>\n

However, in financial terms, the difference between Arsenal<\/a> in 2nd and Liverpool in 1st is negligible. It will be \u00a32-3m this season. That\u2019s money that Stan Kroenke<\/a> barely bothers getting out of bed for.<\/p>\n

\"ChartPremier League TV revenue per club<\/p>\n

Credit: Adam Williams\/\/TBR Football\/GRV Media<\/p>\n

In fact, if they had won their first Premier League title in over two decades, Arsenal would likely have seen any extra prize money wiped \u2013 and then some \u2013 by performance-related bonuses to players.<\/p>\n

Talking about a football club in such clinical, numerical terms is an alien concept to most fans, but this is how Stan Kroenke and his son, Josh Kroenke<\/a>, look at their investment at the Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post<\/p>\n

The return to the Champions League is the real quantum leap when it comes to revenue. Anything beyond that is a bonus. While the Championship play-off final has always been considered the richest match in football, the difference between finishing in the top four (or five, this season) can be almost as stark.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the numbers. In 2022-23, when Arsenal reached the Europa League round-of-16, their revenue was \u00a3467m. The following season when they returned to the Champions League for the first time in six years? It shot up by just shy of \u00a3157m. Granted, some of that was down to impressive improvements in commercial and matchday income, but income direct from UEFA was by far the biggest driver.<\/p>\n

\"InfographicArsenal squad cost \u2013 wages and amortisation \u2013 compared to revenue<\/p>\n

Credit: Adam Williams\/TBR Football\/GRV Media<\/p>\n

In his programme notes ahead of Arsenal\u2019s final day clash against Southampton, Josh Kroenke wrote: \u201cUltimately, we all want the same thing. We\u2019re as hungry for success as you are and that goes for everyone who works for the club.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while there\u2019s no reason to doubt that the Kroenkes want to win, it\u2019s not the single most important thing to them as it is to Arsenal fans.<\/p>\n

Arsenal will post a profit for the first time since Stan Kroenke\u2019s full takeover<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be a busy summer for Arsenal<\/a> in the transfer market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They spent only modestly in 2024-25 and, with new sporting director Andrea Berta<\/a> having now got his feet under the table, budgets have been set and envoys dispatched to charm would-be recruits.<\/p>\n

But given that they owe \u00a3268m in transfer debt \u2013 the fourth-highest sum in the Premier League \u2013 how much capacity do they have to spend without Kroenke Sports & Entertainment personally investing?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have got high transfer debt but some of that isn\u2019t due for a few years,\u201d says University of Liverpool football finance<\/a> lecturer Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to TBR Football<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\nClub<\/td>\nTransfer debt (\u00a3m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nChelsea<\/td>\n498<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nTottenham Hotspur<\/td>\n337<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nManchester United<\/td>\n331<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nArsenal<\/strong><\/td>\n268<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nManchester City<\/td>\n230<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nWest Ham<\/td>\n191<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nLeeds United (2023)<\/td>\n190<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nNottingham Forest<\/td>\n184<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nNewcastle United<\/td>\n160<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAston Villa<\/td>\n156<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nWolves<\/td>\n135<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nLiverpool<\/td>\n128<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBournemouth<\/td>\n126<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBrighton<\/td>\n104<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nEverton<\/td>\n74<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nFulham<\/td>\n72<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nCrystal Palace<\/td>\n67<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBrentford<\/td>\n61<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nSheffield United<\/td>\n40<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nLuton Town<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Premier League transfer debt 2023-24<\/p>\n

\u201c\u00a3103m was due in 2024-25, so I think they\u2019re fine. I don\u2019t think that will be an issue because normally, you\u2019re paying over three or four instalments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arsenal had \u00a367m cash in the bank as of their year-end accounting date in April last year. Are those reserves plus their spare revenues in 2024-25 enough to fund a lavish summer? <\/p>\n

Kieran Maguire says: \u201cThe progress they made to the semi-final in the Champions League this season under the new format will count in their favour.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by David Price\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of that has been done to placate the Super League clubs, by the way. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey will post a profit this season. Of that we can be relatively confident. They owe money to Kroenke but most of that will be at low rates or interest-free.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Arsenal do end 2024-25 with a profit, it will be their first since 2017-18. They are also set to break the \u00a3500m squad cost barrier \u2013 annual wages plus amortisation \u2013 for the first time too.<\/p>\n

\"ChartArsenal profit and loss accounts<\/p>\n

Credit: Adam Williams\/TBR Football\/GRV Media<\/p>\n

That was before Stan Kroenke bought the club outright.<\/p>\n

There is an irony in that when Kroenke Sports & Entertainment won the battle with Alisher Usmanov for 100 per cent control of the club, it was seen as the start of a move in a more self-sufficient direction.<\/p>\n

Instead, Kroenke has loaned the club \u00a3324m out of his own pocket to cover the losses since 2018.<\/p>\n

Arsenal owe KSE \u00a3324m in shareholder loans \u2013 it will have PSR impact<\/p>\n

As it happens, the \u00a3324m that Arsenal owe Stan Kroenke could potentially eat into how much they can spend under the Premier League\u2019s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The loans, which increased by over \u00a360m last season, now fall under the remit of the Premier League\u2019s Associated Party Transaction and Fair Market Values rules.<\/p>\n

That is a direct result of Manchester City\u2019s challenge to the rules in an ongoing arbitration case.<\/p>\n

Thanks to that legal victory over the Premier League, the \u00a3324m in shareholder loans from which Arsenal are currently benefitting are considered a subsidy and thereby must be subject to a fair market value assessment. Any loans deemed to be at a disproportionally favourable interest rate will have a nominal interest rate applied for the purposes of PSR.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Arsenal have acres of PSR headroom as it stands, but this wasn\u2019t always the case. And the fact that Manchester City want the new rules on shareholder loans applied retrospectively could be tricky for the Gunners.<\/p>\n

This is one of a number of reasons why the two clubs have fallen out at boardroom level, as well as on the pitch, in recent seasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahead of tomorrow night\u2019s Champions League final, Arsenal fans are wondering what might have been. But for Stan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[161,162,94,4308,79,4310,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-140568","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-english-premier-league","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-football-finance","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-stan-kroenke","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114589406920308229","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}