Arsenal to cash in as £60m off-pitch Champions League deal agreed

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Arsenal are set to benefit from the latest big deal in the world of football business.

The Gunners generated £467m in revenue in 2022-23, the last year for which financial data is publicly available.

While that figure is impressive in isolation and was a record for the club, it was also the lowest of any of the clubs in the so-called ‘Big Six’.

For context, nearest challengers Chelsea generated an extra £55m over the course of the financial year, while top club City made £713m.

However, after Arsenal played in the lucrative Champions League for the first time in seven seasons in 2023-24, their next set of accounts are expected to be more positive.

The North London club also have the advantage of returning to Europe’s premier club competition at a particularly lucrative time in its history.

All 32 clubs will play eight group stage games from next season instead of six in a revamp of the traditional round robin format.

And the latest developments show that Arsenal and their peers are on course for extra commercial cash from the competition to.

Arsenal to benefit from £60m Champions League deal

The Champions League’s overall commercial pot was worth over £600m at the last count, with that figure set to rise again from next season.

The bulk of that cash is generated by UEFA’s nine global partners for the competition – Heineken, PlayStation, Lay’s, FedEx, Mastercard and Just Eat.

In the last 24 hours, it has been announced by SportBusiness that FedEx have extended their deal with European football’s governing body and are set to reveal so soon.

No terms of the deal have been revealed, but previous global partnerships have seen UEFA bank £60m per year, which is then distributed to clubs like Arsenal.

Arsenal’s absence from the Champions League in recent years will have something of a negative legacy impact, with a chunk of the cash given to clubs based on their 10-year coefficient.

However, with another tranche of money distributed according to clubs based on the value of their domestic TV deal, Arsenal will benefit from the UK being one of the biggest payers.

• READ MORE ARSENAL FINANCE NEWS: New info on three Arsenal off-pitch deals worth £141m

TBR Analysis: How much can Arsenal spend this summer?

Most analyses gives Arsenal around £90m worth of headroom in terms of Premier League spending rules.

That means they can afford to make a £90m financial loss in 2024-25 and still comply with domestic PSR.

They must also comply with UEFA’s PSR system.

The governing body are phasing in a new approach which, as well as setting out an allowable loss limit, will also eventually limit clubs to spending 70 per cent of turnover on wages, transfers and agent fees.

The current ratio is 80 per cent, however, and Arsenal are expected to comfortably fall within that threshold in the coming season.

That is thanks in part to the model pursued by owner Stan Kroenke, who – despite spending more in recent seasons – has historically opted for more of a self-sufficient model.