Arsenal Chair Chips Keswick has "defended the board's decision" to pay £3M ($4.8M) in "strategic and advisory fees"
to the firm of majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, according to Jim Van Wijk of the PA. The club held its Annual General Meeting at
the Emirates Stadium on Thursday, "which offered shareholders the chance
to submit written questions to the board." The issue over the payment to Kroenke, who "completed his
takeover at the north London club in April 2011, was first on the
agenda, and came following concerns from supporters at a time of rising
ticket costs." Keswick stressed the board "had no issues over the decision." Keswick: "We are entirely satisfied the fee was appropriate. In terms of any
future fees, that would depend on the nature of the services provided." Kroenke gave "little away in his brief speech." The American -- once
dubbed "Silent Stan" for his "preference to stay in the background -- preferred to focus on the positives." Kroenke: "We are quite proud of what we have been able to accomplish" (PA, 10/16). In London, Tom Peck reported when asked about rising ticket prices, "which angered fans last season, CEO Ivan Gazidis replied with a graph." It showed that Arsenal’s total revenues in the years since its move to the Emirates have risen from £177M to £298M ($479M). Of that £123M ($198M) leap, "almost all has come from broadcasting and
commercial." Rising ticket prices have contributed £9M ($14M), around 8%. The point was to show that Arsenal is "not getting rich off the
back of the fans." But it mainly shows that "rising ticket prices hurt
fans wallet far more than they benefit the club" (INDEPENDENT, 10/16). ESPN's Julian Bennetts reported the board "answered every question submitted in advance, and took a few from the floor at the end." Yet shareholders were "still left frustrated, feeling they had not quite got what they came for." That is "nothing new; no business the size of Arsenal Football Club would like to air all their dirty laundry in public" (ESPN, 10/16).
SAVING SOME FOR TRANSFERS: REUTERS' Mike Collett reported Gazidis "rejected the
idea the club are sitting on piles of cash which they refuse to give to
manager Arsene Wenger to spend on players." Arsenal fans have "griped for years that the club do not spend some of their substantial profits on new players," but in the last transfer window Arsenal paid out just less than $96M, "second only" to ManU among European teams. Gazidis: "We do try to keep a reasonable amount for the transfer budget. It is quite untrue that we are sitting on a huge cash pile for some unspecified reason" (REUTERS, 10/16).
