Manchester City’s growth into a footballing powerhouse can be seen through the expansion of their trophy cabinet, and also through the incredible rise in revenues they have enjoyed since the Abu Dhabi takeover of 2008.
In the season before the takeover, City posted total revenues of £82 million and commercial revenues of just £21 million. In financial terms, they were not even half the size of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.
On the European stage, meanwhile, they were simply not a consideration in those days. Real Madrid, for example, posted total revenues of £290 million and commercial revenues £102 million in that same year. Truly, this represented the steepest of financial mountains for City to climb.
But climb they have, at an extraordinary pace. Analysis by Deloitte shows that City’s commercial revenues rose by almost 700 per cent in the first five years following the takeover. By the 2012/13 season, City were raking in £143 million per year through commercial deals, up from £18 million in 2008/09.
The big leaps were fuelled by new sponsorship deals. In the 2009/10 season, City’s commercial revenues more than doubled, in large part thanks to agreements with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Etisalat and Aabar – all of which are based in the Middle East. The club’s partnership with Etihad Airways was, and remains, a lucrative one.
In 2008-09, City’s commercial income represented just 21 per cent of their total revenues. By 2013, commercial revenues represented more than 50 per cent. This has largely remained the case in the years that have followed, with commercial income standing at 47 per cent of total revenues in the 2022/23 season.
On the financial racetrack of European football, City have quickly caught up with their rivals in the Premier League and on the continent. By 2014, they had overtaken Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool on the revenue league table. By 2021, they had overtaken everyone else in the world.
In November, City posted a Premier League record revenue of £713 million for the 2022/23 financial year. Their profit, of £80 million, was up from £42 million. The figures covered the season in which they won the Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles.
Those victories showed their dominance on the pitch, and their balance sheet showed how they have also come to dominate the English game off it.