Palace Accounts 22-23
Record Turnover £180m, Operating costs £201.8m, Loss before tax was £29.7m
Key Points
Record Turnover £180m (up £20m on last year)
Mainly due to an increase in broadcasting income (£14.6m on last year)
Operating costs £201.8m (up £19m on last year)
Player Amortisation has increased by £5.1m
But at £40.4m still lower than at its peak in 18-19 (£49.9m)
Loss before tax was £29.7m (£2.1m increase on last year)
This brings the last three years of losses to £100.1m
Turn over
Broadcasting income is up £14.6m for a season; Palace finished one position higher than last season and one fewer game on TV. This is not due to better performance but more money from the Premier League. As the oversea’s rights went up by 30%. The increase is split staggered by league position. Teams with a high position take a higher share than teams at the bottom. The overseas’s rights used to be split equally for all Premier League teams. So according to the athletic calculation, the merit payment is now £3.7m per place. Finishing 11th means it was roughly £37.2m.
Broadcasting is now 78% of total turnover. Palace is very reliant on TV money. These are on long term contracts so in one way are secure but remaining in the Premier League is very important.
Gate Money
Year on year the gate receipts are up £0.8m. This is impressive as Palace went to the FA Cup semi-final in the season before. So that includes a chunk of Wembley money from that season. Also, the average attendance is down 730 per game. The increase in income is from an increase in ticket prices. This would also increase in the 23/24 season as was another increase in season ticket prices.
Wages
Player wages are £6k higher than the year before, with adding Doucoure, Richards, Johnstone, and Ahamada. That season Benteke, Kouyate, and Kelly all came off the wage bill. Some players might have taken a pay cut this season or some may have yearly increases in salary, so not as simple as seeing a list of new players and leaving players.
Other staff is much more than last season (up £6.3m). This could include the redundancy costs for Vieira and his team. This would also include paying for Roy and his team. Other than the last two seasons not had to pay redundancy for manager since De Boer. It has been a long time.
Comparing the total wages to the rest of the league. Palace has the 15th largest wage bill but finished 11th. This is impressive as normally wages are good indicators for final league position. Part of this is chicken and egg with bonuses. Good season means high bonuses based on results which increases the wage bill. So generally if a team is doing well they have to pay large performance-related bonuses. Leeds had the 11th highest wage bill which is £16m higher than Palaces. Leeds was one of many teams that underperformed their wage bill.
That said Brentford and Brighton have very low wage bills for their position and finished above Palace. So it's possible to have a low-wage bill and have a great season. Brentford has the lowest wage bill yet finished 9th league. The next two teams above them in the league had more/close to double the wage bill.
Amortisation
Wages are only half of the story. The other major cost is Amortisation. This is the yearly cost of the squad. (Not payments for transfer fees but spreading of when the cost is shown on the P&L).
Player Amortisation has increased by £5.1m but at £40.4m still lower than at its peak in 18-19 (£49.9m). This is the 17th-highest in the league. Part of this is the lack of selling players. As Palace hasn't had a chance to reinvest big fees which would push up amortisation. But that has a downside as in future years to maintain that spending, more sales would need to happen.
Wages + Amortisation
Or more simply squad cost for the season. Palace has a squad cost of £170m. That's 16th in the league. With a final league position of 11th. So Palace has outperformed position by 5 league spots. That outperformance is £57m (Leeds were 11th with £227m).
We have to be realistic Palace won't be able to outspend the top 10. Everton was 10th with £237m. That’s £67m more. The new stand would bring in an estimated £20m per season. Each league spot increases by £3.7m. That won't make up the gap in spending. Our squad this season hasn’t had the depth of other Premier League teams. The main way Palace could make up that gap would be through player sales. But that's difficult to do consistently and players need to be replaced. Brighton and Brentford have finished within the top ten with bottom-half budgets. So it is possible. They are very well run. The top ten in the Premier League have an average cost of £330m. That’s double the Palace’s budget. That said with overperformance last season Palace is on the right path to punch above our financial clout.