Aston Villa chief reveals what the club have just spent £30m on
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Aston Villa are surfing a wave of optimism after their landmark Champions League victory over Bayern Munich last night, and things are looking positive both on and off the pitch.
Financially, Villa are supported by two generous benefactors in private equity billionaire Wes Edens and Egypt’s richest man, Nassef Sawiris.
The club lost £120m in 2022-23, the last financial year on record. However, that loss is underwritten by the Edens and Sawiris, who appear comfortable to bankroll the club to deliver success on the pitch.
PSR, or Profit and Sustainability Rules – the Premier League’s regulations on spending that limit clubs to losing £105m over a rolling three year period – are another issue, however.
Villa only narrowly dodged a PSR breach in 2023-24 which would have resulted in a fine or a points deduction, as both Everton and Nottingham Forest have found out.
To ensure that they do not fall foul of the Premier League or UEFA’s PSR enforcers, Villa are now focusing on raising revenue to create more breathing space for Unai Emery and Monchi’s football project.
As well as a new commercial drive that has seen club-record deals struck with Adidas and Betano, Villa also have plans to expand Villa Park.
And a new appointee B6 has revealed that a massive sum has already been spent in that department.
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New Villa chief reveals £30m spend in one lucrative area
Recently, Villa poached Celtic’s commercial director Adrian Filby to oversee their maturing strategy in terms of sponsorship, merchandise and events.
The club generated £40.4m in commercial income at the last count and are projected to have got close to £50m by the time they release their accounts for the last financial year.
One area they are looking to stretch that figure is with their corporate hospitality offering.
Last night’s opponents, Bayern Munich, make as much money from the 10,000 or so hospitality seats at the Allianz as they do from the rest of the stadium and Villa want to better monetise their support too.
In a LinkedIn post reflecting on his departure from Celtic and his new job at Villa, Filby said: ‘A stunning new club shop, Fanzone, over £30m invested in best in class hospitality all while remaining sympathetic to an amazing traditional stadium with an incredible matchday atmosphere….and just an hour from London.’
The £30m figure, which is exempt from PSR, is new information and illustrates how confident are in their strategy when it comes to hospitality.
The bulk of that is likely to have come over the summer, when Villa added 1,500 premium seats at Villa Park.
When will Villa upgrade their stadium and how will it affect PSR?
From next season, the Premier League will move to a new PSR system that caps spending on wages, transfers and agent fees at 85 per cent of revenue.
After the last two seasons, Villa will be well versed in this model given that it is similar to the one employed by UEFA.
Villa have put their plans to expand their stadium on ice at present, claiming that they do not want to do anything to interrupt the momentum build up by Emery and his players.
In any case, the Champions League campaign this season will see Villa’s matchday income – which was around £19m at the last count – soar, especially given the astronomical ticket prices implemented by president of business Chris Heck.
It now appears that Villa will favour a gradual expansion process like Liverpool have opted for, as opposed to an all-in-one-go revamp.
Eventually, they want to accommodate 50,000 spectators, which would likely guarantee them annual matchday income of £30m-plus.
However, their status as a host venue for Euro 2028 could potentially complicate matters.
