The Times reported on Wednesday that Arsenal are on course to record revenue of up to £770 million ($980 million) for the 2025-26 financial year — a figure that would surpass Manchester City's £715 million ($910 million) (2023-24) as the largest annual total ever posted by a Premier League club, and place Arsenal third in the world behind Real Madrid and Barcelona.
How Arsenal got here
The £770m ($980m) projection builds off a £691m ($880m) result for 2024-25, which itself was a club record — driven by a deep Champions League run that reached the semi-finals and lifted matchday revenue to £153.9m ($196m) on 30 home fixtures. The current season, per The Times, layers on the title-winning Premier League prize-money payout (worth roughly £180m to £195m, or $230m to $248m, once central distribution and merit money are stacked), more Champions League income from an improving club coefficient, and continued growth in commercial deals. Sportico and Arsenal's own filings confirm the 2024-25 baseline; Deloitte's 2026 Football Money League placed the club fifth globally on €727m. The 2025-26 step-up moves them up the table again.
The Manchester City comparison
The previous Premier League high-water mark was set by Manchester City in 2023-24 at £715m ($910m), on the back of the treble afterglow, peak commercial activity, and Champions League income. City's revenue then dropped roughly 1% in 2024-25 after a third-place league finish and an early Champions League exit — enough for them to fall from second to sixth on Deloitte's 2026 Money League. The number Arsenal are about to post is not just larger than City's record; it lands at the exact moment the previous record-holder is contracting. That is the headline of the league's last two seasons in one financial result.
Where Arsenal sits globally
Real Madrid topped Deloitte's most recent Money League at €1.16bn (about £980m, or $1.24bn), with Barcelona second at €974.8m (about £820m, or $1.04bn). Third on that list was Manchester City at €829m before their 2024-25 contraction. A £770m ($980m) Arsenal figure, converted at current rates, lands close to €890m — comfortably ahead of where City finished last year and inside arm's reach of Barcelona, depending on how the euro moves against the pound by accounting year-end. Real Madrid remain in a tier of their own, but the next bracket is now genuinely Arsenal's room to enter.
What this changes
This is the financial proof point of the rebuild Stan and Josh Kroenke have spent five years funding. Arsenal's 2018-19 revenue was £339m ($430m). Doubling that in seven years, while also lifting on-pitch quality to title-winner level, is a different kind of operational story than the one usually told about American sports ownership in English football. The squad cost obviously rose alongside the revenue — Viktor Gyökeres' July transfer is the most visible piece — and FFP/PSR headroom expands accordingly. A club generating £770m ($980m) can pay £350m ($445m) in wages and still book a profit. That is the lever the next round of squad-building is going to be pulled with.
The Times' figure is a projection, not an audited number; Arsenal's official 2025-26 accounts won't file until spring 2027. But the directional math is hard to argue with given the on-pitch outcomes already locked in. The Premier League's revenue ceiling, however high it looked when Manchester City set it, just moved.
Source: The Times of London. Additional context from Deloitte's 2026 Football Money League and Arsenal's published 2024/25 financial results. USD conversions at approximately £1 = $1.27.
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