Brighton announced a record profit after their best Premier League season ever despite letting go of multiple key players during the summer transfer window.
Brighton announced a record profit.
In the latest official profit report, the English Premier League side Brighton announced a record post-tax profit of £122.8m for 2022/23.
The lucrative figures put Brighton atop the Premier League record, surpassing Tottenham Hotspur’s £113m in 2017/18.
With the massive success, the East Sussex side also received a boost: CEO and deputy chairman Paul Barber has signed a new contract until 2030.
Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said, “These accounts will, of course, catch the eye because of the headline number.”
“In a season when we made history on the pitch we took a huge step forward in terms of the club’s long-held aim of becoming more sustainable and less reliant on [Brighton owner] Tony Bloom’s incredibly generous levels of investment.”
How Brighton pulled a record in profit and the figures behind
The numbers in Brighton’s profit record
- Profit after tax increased annually by almost £100m from £24.1m
- Turnover went up by 17.2% to a record £204.5m.
Albion finished sixth in the Premier League in 2022-23, reached the FA Cup semi-finals, and brought in colossal transfer fees for several key players.
Brighton’s record profits come at a time when several other clubs have posted significant losses for the 2022-23 top-flight season, including:
- Aston Villa (£120m)]
- Chelsea (£90m)
- Everton (£89m)
- Leicester (£90m)
- Newcastle United (£73m)
- Nottingham Forest (£52m)
- Wolves (£67m).
A sizeable portion of Brighton’s income in 2022-23 was generated by their performances on the pitch and the ability to make a profit by selling players who arrived for much smaller fees.
Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi guided the club to the highest league finish in its 122-year history and to the FA Cup semi-finals for only the third time.
As a result, the club’s income from prize money and broadcasting revenue increased from £126.2m to £155.2m.
Selling four key players – Mali midfielder Yves Bissouma, Spain left-back Marc Cucurella, Belgium forward Leandro Trossard, and Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister – led to a profit of £121.4m in transfers.
The £23m compensation received for De Zerbi’s predecessor, Graham Potter, who moved to Chelsea with several of his backroom staff, also contributed to the record figures.
Player sales:
- June 2022: Yves Bissouma – Tottenham – £30m
- August 2022: Marc Cucurella – Chelsea – £60m
- January 2023: Leandro Trossard – Arsenal – £21m
- June 2023: Alexis Mac Allister – Liverpool – £35m
The 2022-23 accounts end date is 30 June last year.
Therefore, they do not include the sales of Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo and Spain keeper Robert Sanchez, who joined Chelsea in August 2023.
Caicedo was sold for £100m, which could rise to a British record £115m. Sanchez made the same move for £25m. So, despite Chelsea’s fans fuming that Brighton made a fortune selling Caicedo to their club, it’s not part of the profit.
