Sunderland have a strong case for being in the Premier League

03/24/2025 04:39 AM

Sunderland's 2023/24 accounts cover their second season back in the Championship, when the club said that it "did not see an improvement in league position from the previous season".  That's an interesting way of putting it, given that they dropped to 16th place, compared to finishing 6th the year before, when they got to the play-offs, before losing to Luton Town in the semi-finals.

One obvious reason for Sunderland's slump last season was the numerous changes in manager, starting with the sacking of the popular Tony Mowbray in December 2023, when the club was sitting pretty in ninth place.

The last time that Sunderland posted a profit was way back in 2005/06 – and they ended up being relegated from the Premier League that season. Since then, they have reported losses 18 years in a row, adding up to £281m.  More positively, the club has drastically reduced the size of its annual losses, averaging £7m in the last five years, compared to £20m in the preceding decade.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has been Sunderland's controlling shareholder since February 2021, when he bought 41% of the club, though the previous ownership group retained 59%: Stewart Donald 34%, Juan Sartori 20% and Charlie Methven 5%. Even though this was only a minority stake, the acquisition gave Louis-Dreyfus full control of the board.

This transaction made Louis-Dreyfus the youngest person to ever own an English football club and even now he is just 27 years old. That said, his late father Robert once owned French team Olympique de Marseille.  In June 2022 Louis-Dreyfus increased his stake to 51% after buying out Methven's 5% and another 5% from Donald, who also sold 10% to Sartori, increasing the Uruguayan's shareholding to 30%.

Under KLD the club has "embarked on a strategy to create a sustainable business that aims to return to the Premier League", though it was acknowledged that "this requires a long-term outlook".  The club's stated strategy is "to invest in a strong core of talented young players", which should help with player trading profits in the future, but on the other hand a lack of experience on the pitch normally counts against teams in the ultra-competitive Championship.  The first sign that the new focus on player trading has started to pay off was last season's £8.8m profit, which was actually more than the £6m generated in the previous five years.

The financial benefits of promotion

The financial imperative to get back to the Premier League can be seen by Sunderland's last season in the top flight when they registered their record revenue of £124m, but they would comfortably surpass that if they secured promotion, thanks to the uplift in TV rights.  If Sunderland do manage to go up this season, their revenue will take off in the top flight. Looking at the last three non-parachute clubs promoted to the Premier League (pending the publication of Luton Town's 2023/24 accounts), their revenue more than quadrupled, increasing by an average of £122m to £156m.

Even if Sunderland were then immediately relegated, they would still receive two years of parachute payments, which would add up to £89m. Surviving at least one season in the top tier would mean a third year of parachutes, which would be worth another £18m.   In other words, staying up two seasons would bring them around £337m in TV money alone, made up of £120m in the first year, £110m in the second year and £107m parachute payments.   (It should be noted, however, that the existence or at least the amount of parachute payments is under some threat).

Sunderland's £8.6m pre-tax loss was basically the same as the prior year's £8.9m, but this disguised some large ups and downs.  Revenue rose £2.7m (7%) from £35.5m to £38.2m, but this was more than offset by operating expenses growing £7.9m (17%) from £47.1m to £55.0m.   However, the net deterioration was compensated by profit from player sales, which shot up from just £0.3m to £8.8m.

Sunderland do have one of the highest revenues in the Championship, which the authoritative Swiss Ramble reckons will be seventh best once Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton publish their accounts.

The main driver of Sunderland's revenue increase was commercial, which grew £1.4m (9%) from £14.7m to £16.1m, though the other two streams were also higher. Gate receipts rose £0.9m (9%) from £10.7m to £11.6m, while broadcasting was up £0.3m (4%) from £10.1m to £10.4m.

Although losing money is rarely good news, Sunderland's £8.6m loss was actually one of the better results in the Championship.  To place this into perspective, over half of the division reported losses of more than £10m in their most recent accounts. Furthermore, some of the losses last season were more than twice as much as Sunderland, namely WBA £33.9m, Stoke City £25.7m, Millwall £19.1m and Hull City £18.8m.

Dedicated supporters

Sunderland's average attendance increased from 38,653 to 41,028, which was the club's highest since relegation from the Premier League. It was impressive how crowds held up in the second half of the season, despite the club's poor results on the pitch.  Fans may be frustrated, but they are also dedicated.  Sunderland's 41,028 average attendance was comfortably the best in the Championship, far above Leeds United 35,989 and Leicester City 31,238.

 This means that Sunderland have enjoyed the highest crowds in their division for the last seven years in a row, which the club said was a testament to the "solid fan loyalty".   This was actually the 9th highest attendance in England in 2023/24, only behind the Big Six, Newcastle United and Aston Villa, which once again shows just how big the Wearside club really is.   Indeed, although Sheffield Wednesday fans have claimed the label 'massive', it more truly belongs to Sunderland outside the top flight.

However, Sunderland's match day revenue of £11.6m was only the 18th highest in England, which reflects the low average yield on ticket prices. This is partly due to the high number of concessions available to old and young supporters, which is to the club's credit.

Sunderland's wages increased £5.8m (22%) from £25.6m to £31.4m, so have nearly doubled in the two years since promotion from League One. However, it was still £16m (33%) less than the £47m the last time they were in the second tier.  Following the increase, Sunderland's £31.4m wage bill is currently 9th highest in the Championship, a long way below clubs benefiting from parachute payments, e.g. Burnley £53.7m in 2022/23 and Norwich City £51.8m last season.

The shareholders have provided £19.8m in the form of loans since Louis-Dreyfus acquired the club, though there are a couple of points worth noting:

• They only put in £1.8m last season, opting to take out an expensive overdraft instead.
• This was a lot less than Ellis Short had injected during his tenure - though appears to have been spent more productively.

As a result, Sunderland's owner funding was relatively low compared to other clubs in the Championship. For example, in the three years up to 2022/23 their £18m was significantly less than the likes of Cardiff City £87m, QPR £68m, Reading £53m, Bristol City £52m and Birmingham City £50m.  However, it's fair to say that large funding has not been a guarantee of success, e.g. two of the clubs that received more than £50m in that period ended up being relegated to League One.

Nobody has a divine right to play in the Premier League, but it does feel like Sunderland should be there. As Regis Le Bris said, "It's a prestigious club with a big history, big fanbase, big stadium and big facilities."    They are unlikely to secure automatic promotion, but they are currently 12 points ahead of seventh place with just eight games remaining, so a spot in the play-offs is very much on the cards. At that point, it's anyone's game.