|
EPL side Everton generated "record turnover and post-tax profits with the help of the Premier League's landmark" £5B ($6.76B) TV rights deal, according to Richard Frost of INSIDER MEDIA. Turnover for the year amounted to £171.3M, which is almost £50M ($67.6M) more than the previous high achieved in '14-15, when the club reached the last 16 of the Europa League. The club also reported post-tax profits of £30.6M, as opposed to losses of £24.3M a year earlier. Broadcast revenues accounted for "most of the increase in turnover," with '16-17 the first year of the £5B TV rights deal for the Premier League. The club's seventh-place finish, up from 11th in '15-16, "boosted the merit share distribution from the Premier League and helped secure" the seventh-biggest share of TV revenue for the season, up from 10th in the previous season. For the first time in the Premier League era, average attendances at Goodison Park exceeded 39,000. An average of 39,310 fans attended Premier League games, "an increase of almost 1,000 on the previous best average attendance" in '14-15. However, reductions in season ticket prices and "early exits from both domestic cup competitions" meant that gate receipts for the '16-17 season fell by £3.6M. Everton added that its record profit came "despite significant investment into the playing squad." Investment into the first-team squad led to staff costs rising by 25% to £104.7M. But the club's wage bill "as a percentage of turnover including outsourced catering and retail revenues" fell to 59% from 65% (
INSIDER MEDIA, 1/3).