Manchester United Announce Record $777M Revenue, Expect To Cross $800M In 2019

Manchester United reported record revenues of £590 million ($777m) for the year ending June 30 2018, which is 1.5 percent up from the previous year. The Premier League club are predicting they will top the £600 million ($800 m) barrier in the coming financial year.

The Red Devils are the highest earning club in England, £90m ahead of cross town rivals Manchester City, who recently reported their earnings at £500 million. The majority of the revenue looks to have come from the TV rights which is up 5.2 percent with the club earning £204 million after finishing second in the league last year compared to the previous year’s sixth place.

United’s operating profit, however, have fallen to £44.1 million this year compared to last year’s £80.8 million, but is said to be due to United States federal corporate income tax rate being reduced from 35 percent to 21 percent.

Despite the record revenue, according to the Guardian, the club remains in debt to the tune of £487 million, which is not a big deficit from when the Glazers bought the club in 2005 for a debt of £525 million. The wage bill is also up for the year by £32.4 million as they paid out £295.5 million across the board.

The Red Devils last won the Premier League in 2013, but remain the biggest sports team in the world. Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward believes the record revenue underlines United’s “strong long-term financial performance” and made it clear the club are focused on getting back to challenging for silverware and adding to their 20-English first division titles.

“We are the biggest sports team in the world. That requires continued investment. Our aim is to win trophies, it is one of the reasons we hired José Mourinho,” Woodward said.

“Everyone at the club is working tirelessly to add to Manchester United’s 66 and José’s 25 trophies. That is what our passionate fans and our history demands. We are committed to our philosophy of blending top academy graduates with world-class players and are proud that, once again, last season we had more academy graduate minutes on the pitch than any other Premier League club.

“Our increased revenue expectation for the year demonstrates our continued strong long-term financial performance which underpins everything we do and allows us to compete for top talent in an increasingly competitive transfer market,” the United executive vice-chairman added.

United may have again shown their power to dominate other clubs when it comes to their revenue generation, but all is not well on the pitch at the moment. The same day they announced record revenues, Jose Mourinho’s side, who are currently seventh in the Premier League, were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Derby County.

The Championship club managed by Chelsea legend Frank Lampard caused a major upset by dumping out United via penalties Tuesday night. It is yet another sign the Portuguese manager and his team are not on the same page.