Manchester United have announced record revenues and profits in their latest set of annual figures as TV revenues soared in the first season of the current three-year UK broadcasting deal.
The Europa League winners reported turnover of £581.2m and profits of £80.8m. Both figures smash previous records of £515.3m turnover and £191.9m profit, which were set last year.
United are projecting that revenue for 2018 will be somewhere between £575m and £585m. To put that in perspective. In the next 12 months, United will generate £150m more in revenue than most of their Premier League rivals.
United’s wage bill, which includes player acquisitions up to June 30, rose by £31.3m to £263.5m, which represents the biggest outlay in the Premier League.
Ed Woodward, Executive Vice Chairman, hailed the figures.
‘We concluded a successful 2016-17 season with a total of three trophies and a return to Champions League football,’ he said.
‘The year saw us set record revenues of over £581m and achieve a record EBITDA of £199.8m. We are pleased with the investment in our squad and look forward to an exciting season.’
Elsewhere, United’s commercial revenue was up to £275.5m, an increase of £7.2m on the previous year. Rises were also recorded in sponsorship and retail which rose £6.7m. This was down largely to the club taking control of various elements of merchandising.
Mobile and content revenue decreased by £1.7m to £9.2m. United are understood to be letting a number of deals run down before boosting their own production of content.
United brought in £194.1m in broadcasting revenue, a big increase of £53.7m, thanks largely to the Premier League’s new rights agreement and their progression to the Europa League final.