April 2 – Premier League Chelsea have turned a £90.1 million pre-tax loss in 2022-23 into a £128.4 million profit 2023-24, mainly by selling core assets to its owners.
Described as a “repositioning of Chelsea Football Club Women Ltd”, the club said it “will ensure CFCW has dedicated resources, management and commercial leadership solely focused on the growth and success of the women’s team”.
Todd Boehly and the Clearlake Capital private equity group bought the club in May 2022 and then embarked on a remarkable spending spree on players, amortising the huge fees being paid across 8-year contracts, a practice that has now been clamped down on.
Premier League Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSR) for 2023-24 allow clubs to lose £105 as an aggregate over a rolling three-year period, a figure Chelsea would have failed to stay within without the sale of the women’s team.
The sale of the women’s team to Blueco, a separate holding company owned by Boehly and Clearlake Capital, was disclosed on June 28 last year via a Companies House filing, two days before the June 30 deadline for 2023-24 accounts. That enabled Chelsea to book the sale in that year’s accounts, and create the dramatic paper reversal of financial fortune.
PSR rules do not prevent a club selling assets to associated party, though it is a loophole that will likely be closed in the future. Chelsea used the same mechanism to reduce losses in the 2023-24 accounts with the sale of its two hotels on the Stamford Bridge stadium footprint for £76.5 million.
The issue of what in essence could be regarded as a related party transaction (and in that case whether the women’s team was sold at a fair market value) will likely be looked at by UEFA going forward. Manchester City will be curious to see how this treated given their issues with PSR rules.
The 2024-25 profit was achieved in a year in which overall revenue fell to £468.5 million from $512.5 million the previous year. The drop was attributed to the men’s team not competing in the Champions League.
Broadcasting receipts did benefit from a sixth-place finish in the Premier League and semi-final and final appearances in the FA Cup and League Cup respectively. The club also said there was a decrease in operational costs in the year that offset the fall in revenue, “resulting in a stable operating loss in comparison to the previous year”.
Matchday revenue increased to £80.1 million with an average attendance of approximately 40,000, and there were three more women’s team matches held at Stamford Bridge during the year.
The club said there was a growth in commercial revenue to £225.3 million, driven by an increase in player loan income and non-matchday activities, including stadium tours and merchandise sales.
Profits on disposal of player registrations came in at a hefty £152.5 million alongside “a profit on disposal of subsidiaries of £198.7 million”.
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