English clubs risk losing Champions League spot – Woodward

Manchester United’s vice-chairman Ed Woodward says the club are still on track for an annual revenue of between £500-510 million this year.

Manchester United – which is owned by the Glazer family, an American family which owns several sports teams – is the only British football team to be publicly listed, following its flotation on the NY Stock Exchange in 2012.

In order to attain the accolade of highest ever grossing football club the English Premier League team will have to surpass the £510m mark by the end of the year which no other club has ever achieved.

Manchester United’s earnings rocketed over 100 per cent to a new record thanks to its lucrative shirt sponsorship deal with Adidas and a return to the Champions League.

A further 4 sponsor deals were signed in the quarter, as was a licensing deal with Sbenu and a partnership with HCL – to promote its digital growth.

Broadcasting revenue rose 64% to GBP27.6 million, due primarily to participation in the UEFA Champions League and an additional Premier League home game and live broadcast.

United’s commercial arm has continued to strike deals around the world. However, they are now lagging behind by only two points to league leaders and arch-rivals Manchester City, so there is a strong possibility that the Red Devils will also be able to keep the Champions League money rolling next season. The departures of Robin van Persie and Nani to Fenerbahce also had a negative impact which was offset slightly by the sale of Javier Hernandez to Bayer Leverkusen.

United made a net loss on player sales of £7.4m compared to a £16.9m profit the previous year.

Its core profit measure – known as EBITDA which reflects the underlying profitability of the company on a day-to-day basis, rose 105% to £41.6m.

The club is to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.045 per share.