Chelsea's total revenue grew slightly in 2022/23, with the largest share coming from broadcasting payments. At 260 million euros, this was over 40 percent of the club's revenue for the year. The second-largest revenue stream was commercial, at 242 million euros.
However, Chelsea are not simply a buying club. They are shrewd operators and make quite a bit of money through player sales too. Indeed, the Blues have a well-earned reputation for acquiring young talented players on the cheap and then selling them for a massive profit much later on.
If we take a look at Chelsea when they won the Champions League in 2021, that generated around about €120m (£106m) in prize money. You'd normally expect to make £3m to £4m for each home game that is taking place at Stamford Bridge as well, and there will be bonuses from sponsors.
They can because they are buying players and paying for them in instalments. So the finances of the club itself are fine. With regards to Financial Fair Play, the accounting is more Harry Potter than Graham Potter in the sense that it's quite weird and wonderful.
"The thing that Chelsea did to protect themselves from that particular issue with profit and sustainability is the long contracts that were delivered to those players," Plumley told Stats Perform. "Yes, there were some high fees, but there were also long contracts.
How are Chelsea staying within Financial Fair Play rules? 🔎
How can Chelsea spend so much without breaking FFP?
It has been widely documented that Chelsea have exploited the legal limits of amortisation (the process of spreading a transfer fee over the length of a player's contract for accounting purposes) in order to make their spending money go further.
Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital bought the club for £2.5bn. As part of the deal, they also committed a further £1.75bn for investing the club. The owners raised financing of around $500m from Ares Management earlier this year. They also raised £800m of debt in the summer of 2022.
For many years Chelsea's high profits from player sales enabled them to report overall net profits. However, they have now lost a hefty £343m in the last four years, including £156m in 2020/21 and £102m in 2018/19. The sole profit in this time was £36m in 2019/20.
Amortisation, the process of spreading the cost of transfers over long contracts, will also help. That means the £88.5m signing of Mykhailo Mudryk will be valued at around £11m a year over his eight-and-a-half-year deal.
The financial results do not capture Chelsea's summer 2022 or January 2023 acquisitions, when they spent around £600m on new players. The 2021/22 results show £118m was invested in the playing squad but a profit of £123m was made on player sales including Tammy Abraham, Marc Guehi, Fikayo Tomori and Kurt Zouma.
The loans are said to be expected to be repaid to Camberley International Investments Ltd, which is believed to be controlled by Abramovich. However, as the loans are from the owner himself, Chelsea are effectively debt free as Abramovich would have to repay himself from the proceeds if he were to sell the club.
Chelsea's new owners are raising around £800million in debt to help fund their ambitious plans for the club. In one of football's biggest-ever debt deals, Todd Boehly and US investment firm Clearlake Capital are arranging a £500m loan and a revolving credit facility of around £300m.
Mykhaylo Mudryk has become the latest mega-money acquisition in the Premier League, completing a huge move to Chelsea. The Blues saw off competition from London rival Arsenal to complete a move for the Ukraine international, who becomes the most expensive Premier League signing this window.
Who is Todd Boehly and what happened to Roman Abramovich? American billionaire Todd Boehly and a consortium of investors officially completed their takeover of Chelsea in a deal worth $5.25 billion (£4.25 billion) back in May 2022, in what became the most expensive team transaction in professional sports.
Minella and Duncan Bagshaw, Boehly co-founded the holding company Eldridge, and was named CEO and chairman. Thanks to his various business ventures, Boehly currently has a net worth of $5.3bn, and made it into the top 500 on Forbes' rich list for 2023.
Clubs' operating profits (excluding player trading) totalled £459m in 2021/22, a marginal (£1m) drop on the previous season. Despite aggregate revenue growth (£586m) outpacing wage increases (£192m), escalation of wider operating expenses (£395m) contributed to a net reduction in operating profits.
Roman Abramovich has long been Russia's most famous oligarch. His takeover of Chelsea Football Club in 2003 launched him from faceless oil baron to international celebrity. Abramovich's image today is one of boundless wealth: private jets, superyachts, sprawling mansions.
“The proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC are frozen in a UK bank account while independent experts establish a foundation to manage and distribute the money,” said a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which sanctioned Abramovich last year.
Real Madrid have overtaken Manchester City and regained the title of the world's richest football club, according to Deloitte's latest Football Money League. The Spanish giants reported record revenue of €831m (£723m) for the 2022-23 season, an increase of €118m on the previous year.
Real Madrid's total debt is up to €1.6 bln (including wages, tax authority debt and trade creditors), mainly due to the growing stadium debt, though this is still around €900m less than Barcelona's €2.5 bln.
Chelsea FC has raised £500 million ($612 million) of subordinated debt from US direct lending giant Ares Management Corp., according to people with knowledge of the situation.
