Manchester United has said that its revenue fell by 9.9% to £88.7m for the
three months to the end of September. The Old Trafford club lost out on payments from Nike from failing to qualify for the Uefa Champions League. The fall in income could have been more but was partially compensated for by an increase in sponsorship money and a lower wage bill.
Club boss Ed Woodward said 2014-15 financial results would reflect “absence from the Champions League”.
But he said the club had “signed the largest kit sponsorship deal in the history of sport in the first quarter and, with that concluded, we are excited to focus our efforts on the meaningful growth opportunities in sponsorship, digital media and retail and merchandising”.
The club’s kit deal with Adidas, which kicks in at the start of the 2015-16 season, is worth £750m over ten years.
On top of this, it signed five additional sponsorship deals in the quarter.
However, revenues from both broadcasting and matchdays fell as the cost of missing out on Europe’s premier club competition for the first time in two decades took its toll.
On the positive side, Manchester United said employee benefit expenses for the quarter were down 6.6% compared to the same quarter a year ago, thanks mainly to lower player
wages.
United, majority owned by the American Glazer family, reiterated that its full year revenue would be between £385m and £395m, around £40m lower than the previous year.
The club is currently seventh in the Premier League table, having made an indifferent start to the season under coach Louis van Gaal.
Van Gaal was drafted in at the start of the season after Alex Ferguson’s replacement David Moyes left.
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