Loss, Debts Pile Up For QPR Since Club Was Promoted Back To EPL

Queens Park Rangers lost $34M (all figures U.S.) in the '11-12 season, its first back in the EPL. That figure is down $4.5M from their final season in the second-tier Championship, but debt was up from $84M to $134M even as "turnover soared" from $24M to $96M. The loss was "due in part" to spending $38M on new players, and QPR faces "another big loss this season" having spent more than $45M on signings in the last two transfer windows. Club wages, "including administrative staff," almost doubled from $39M to $77M. Ticket revenue per game is up from $350,000 to $610,000 (London INDEPENDENT, 3/7).

Meanwhile, Arsenal "will become the first" EPL club to play in Vietnam during its preseason tour to Asia this summer. An exhibition match against the Vietnamese national team will be held July 17 in Hanoi (London DAILY MAIL, 3/5).