Manchester city has been doing wonders both on and off the field. It is discovered that Manchester city generated £712.8 million in revenue making it the most successful club. The annual report released by the club showed an increase of 99.8 million which is approximately 16.3 percent.
Financial boom never seen before
This type of financial boom has not been seen in the history of the Premier League as far as earnings in a fiscal year are concerned. Club’s financial success is a type of success which has not happened before for any other club. This was reiterated by City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, said in a statement, “The 2022-23 season saw Manchester City scale new heights and set new benchmarks. In short, last season saw Manchester City achieve the greatest football and commercial year of its storied history.”
However we cannot discard the fact that a lot of work goes behind the scenes. As this club is owned by Sheikh Mansour who is directly linked with the government of UAE. They are actively using this club to fulfil their objectives of creating a soft image through sports.
Broadcasting money
Money generated through broadcasting is one of the major contributions to this record breaking revenue. This is because the club has gained the status of fan favourite through consistent performances. Their performances have helped the club in signing deals that were high paying. Earning through broadcasting provided them with 299 million of the total 712 million in revenue that they earned in the fiscal year. Another important factor that it played is the increase in the fanbase of the club.
Lucrative sponsorships:
The club generated a revenue of more than 341 million pounds thanks to the highly paying sponsorship deals. These deals were made with brands that were highly valued. However we cannot say that these were just lucky deals as the club financial team made some very good and timely decisions.
A Team that pulls crowd
Manchester city has been successful in pulling the crowds both physically and virtually. This is another aspect contributing to their financial success making them the most successful club in the history of the Premier League. This is evident by the fact that their match day revenue has increased 32 percent by contributing an additional 17.4 million pounds.
Average attendance at the Etihad stadium has also been around 99 percent.
Man City as a Brand
The goal of Manchester city’s administration is not only to run a football club but building a brand. As Khaldoon Al Mubarak said, “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.”
This clearly suggests that they want to build a brand that is renowned around the world having a brand value. They became successful as the club topped the list of Brand Finance Football having a brand value of 1.51 billion pounds.
A living example
The financial records that are broken by the club have set a benchmark for other clubs. This is in compliance with the league’s ambition of providing top notch financial opportunities to the clubs who are outperforming others. So we can say that this financial triumph is a living example for the other club to follow suit.
Performance on the field can lead to success off the field as in the case of Manchester City. Club won the Champions League in June under Pep Guardiola and this year they won the financial derby.
The dark side
The club has performed tremendously on the ground but off the field the performances have been a bit shady. Having direct linkages with the UAE government the club has been accused as a front of the UAE government. Several allegations of sportswashing, using sports to wipe off the other ills of the state, on part of the UAE government were also widespread.
Also, the club has been accused of several discrepancies in their financial records. These range from sponsorship, transfers, and other ambiguities found in the financial records. Some top figures were involved in this both from the Man city club and the UAE government.
