England’s football team "reached a sporting nadir" after being knocked out of Euro 2016 by Iceland last summer, according to Murad Ahmed of the FINANCIAL TIMES. But the nation’s "shortlived participation" in the tournament helped the FA to "achieve record revenues." English football’s governing body said that last season’s finances "were boosted by the national team competing in Euro 2016, as well as the completion of a number of deals, including the sale of broadcasting and naming rights for the FA Cup and a new kit contract with Nike." On Thursday, the FA reported turnover of £370M in the year ended July 31, 2016, an increase of £52M from a year earlier. Though the organization "did not give details on the value of its commercial contracts," it said that broadcasting income "was the FA’s largest revenue stream" (FT, 2/16). The PA's Matt Slater reported despite the increase, the FA was "overtaken" by the Rugby Football Union as the country's "largest money making sports governing institution." The rugby body raked in £407.1M from a World Cup at home. These positive figures were "partly a result" of '15-16 being a tournament year for the men's national team, "which means extra marketing and sponsorship revenue, and partly because of the FA's continuing efforts to cut costs" -- job cuts and refinancing the debt on St. George's Park and Wembley Stadium helped save more than £25M (PA, 2/16). The BBC reported the FA said that it will be able to invest "more money than ever" into the grassroots game after record turnover. It claims it injected a record £125M into "every level" of the domestic game, up from £117M in '15 (BBC, 2/16). The AFP reported the "combined worth" of the Nike kit deal and the overseas TV rights for the FA Cup will be nearly £170M ($212.5M), but those agreements do not start until '18. All the encouraging financial figures "will not ease the pressure on the FA, under-fire for both the performance of the men's side and its own governance" (AFP, 2/16).
