Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 9y

Manchester United's income down by £10 million after failure to reach UCL

Manchester United's revenue dropped by almost 10 million pounds in the first quarter of the financial year as they paid the price for failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Commercial, matchday and broadcasting revenue all dropped at the former Premier League champions as the cost of last season's struggles under David Moyes became apparent.

United brought in 98.5 million pounds in the three months to the end of September 2013, but that was reduced by 9.8 million pounds to 88.7 million pounds in the same period this year.

Matchday revenue was 15.1 million -- down 4.2 million pounds -- as United played fewer home games, while broadcasting income dropped from 19.3 million pounds to 16.8 million pounds.

The club's commercial revenue was also reduced, falling from 59.9 million pounds to 56.6 million pounds, while debt rose from 361 million pounds to 362.2 million.

Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward said: "While we recognise that the 2014-15 fiscal year financial results will reflect our absence from the Champions League, we signed the largest kit sponsorship deal in the history of sport in the first quarter and, with that concluded, we are excited to focus our efforts on the meaningful growth opportunities in sponsorship, digital media and retail and merchandising."

#INSERT type:image caption:United have spent 152 million pounds on players since the summer arrival of Louis van Gaal as manager. END#

Manager Louis van Gaal signed Angel Di Maria for a British record fee of 59.7 million pounds in the summer, spending 152 million pounds in total as Radamel Falcao, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo also arrived.

Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera came in during the previous quarter of the financial year.

But United's net spend on players in the three-month period was 55.9 million pounds -- showing that the fees agreed in their summer spending spree have been staggered over longer periods.

The club are sticking to their projections from September, when they estimated that their income for the year would be between 385 and 395 million pounds, a drop of up to 48 million pounds from their record revenue of 433 million pounds in the 2013-14 financial year.

United also agreed five sponsorship deals and played five matches in the U.S., including beating Real Madrid in front of a record crowd of 109,318 in Ann Arbor, during the three months in question.

They signed a 10-year, 750 million-pound kit deal with adidas, although that will not come into effect until next season.

^ Back to Top ^