Arsenal have announced a record loss of more than £100 million (€119.5m) for the year ended May 31st, 2021 – attributing the majority to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
After losses of less than £50 million the previous year, Arsenal posted post-tax losses of £107.3 million in their latest financial statement – the biggest in the club’s history.
As much as £85 million of that was put down to the adverse effect of Covid-19 as the club played just two games in front of a crowd at the Emirates Stadium during the 2020-21 season – with coronavirus measures preventing live attendances for much of the campaign.
“The results for the financial year have been materially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the majority of matches for the 2020/21 season to be played behind closed doors,” a club statement accompanying the latest figures read.
“For matches played behind closed doors there was a complete loss of ticket (and other matchday) revenue.
"Despite playing 31 home matches (23 Premier League, including four fixtures deferred consequent to the 2019/20 season suspension, six Uefa Europa League and two domestic cup ties) only two of these games were played with any fans present. As a result, matchday revenue fell by some £75 million to £3.8 million."
Arsenal’s first-team squad agreed to a voluntary pay-cut of 12.5 per cent during the pandemic, offsetting the club’s outlay of wages which came in at £244 million.
Redundancies – 55 in total – and restructuring during that time also saw the club incur exceptional costs of £6.7 million.
The total profit on player sales earned the club just £11.8million as the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and Mesut Özil – the highest-paid player in Arsenal's history – negotiated the termination of their contracts to move elsewhere.
The financial figures were released just hours after Arsenal announced an increase in ticket prices for the 2022/23 season.
A first stadium-wide increase in eight years will see supporters pay an extra four per cent to watch the Gunners next year.
“We recognise that no one welcomes price increases, and this decision has not been taken lightly,” a club statement read.
“Ultimately in the face of continued rising costs, we need to continue to drive growth in all our revenue streams – including matchday – as part of our aim to return our finances to a break-even position in the medium-term.”
