By David Owen
December 8 – Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis was paid over £2.6 million in emoluments over the year to May 31. A breakdown included in the annual accounts of Arsenal Holdings plc, recently filed at Companies House, reveals that on top of a basic salary of £1.67 million, Gazidis received a £919,000 bonus and pension and benefits totalling £29,000.
The total is actually marginally less than the £2.65 million he received in 2015-16. The North London club endured a disappointing 2016-17 in the Premier League, finishing only fifth – an outcome which ended the Gunners’ run of 19 straight Champions League campaigns stretching back to 1998.
The bulk of the rest of the £3.38 million earmarked for members of the Arsenal Holdings board of directors went to octogenarian Ken Friar, who received £664,000, including a £260,000 bonus.
The remaining four directors, including chairman Sir Chips Keswick and Stan Kroenke, the US businessman who controls the club, were each assigned fees of £25,000.
As already reported, Arsenal Holdings posted much-improved pre-tax profits of £44.6 million, buoyed by a big jump in broadcasting revenue.
This was after taking account of £14.7 million of net finance charges.
Accounts of Arsenal Football Club plc, also at Companies House, reveal an even better financial performance, with pre-tax profits reaching £69.2 million on turnover of £408 million.
A breakdown of this turnover showed that, while broadcasting revenue shot up from £140.5 million to £198.6 million, match day revenue was down from £91.5 million to £86.1 million. Just over £56 million of overall broadcasting revenue was derived from the Champions League.
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