Manchester United are on course to become the first Premier League club to break through the £100million barrier for annual commercial turnover. United have posted their third quarter figures this morning, which show commercial revenue has risen to £75.3million, up 33% compared to 12 months ago.
The increase in commercial revenue more than offsets the combined £5million decrease in media and matchday revenue in the third quarter. The decrease in matchday revenue is due to the fact that United had fewer home games in Q3 and that ticket prices were lowered for the FA Cup fifth round tie with non-league Crawley in March.
“The strength of the new commercial strategy is demonstrated in very strong revenue growth,” a United spokesman said. “The combination of global partnerships and deals that relate to individual countries has delivered a significant rise in income.”
Total turnover was £231.7million, up from £219.3million, to March 31, 2011. United announced that they have bought back an additional £5.5million in bonds, taking the overall amount purchased to £29.5million. The bond purchase, combined with a weak dollar means that United’s debt has fallen to £477.7million.
United still have £113million in cash, or its equivalents, in the bank, and fans are hopefully that a good portion of that will be used to add some quality to the squad this summer.
