Arsenal are certainly feeling the benefits of being back in European competition this season, as the club's financial results for the 2021/22 campaign have shown.
Whilst perhaps the main takeaway from the published results for the year ending May 2022, is the operating loss of £45.5million, the Gunners are actually moving in the right direction when taking into account that they recorded losses of £107.3million for the previous year.
Interestingly, the announcement painted the perfect picture with regard to the impact of Mikel Arteta's side not playing in either the Champions League, the Europa League or even the recently formed UEFA Conference League last season following an eighth-placed Premier League in the 2020/21 campaign.
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"The 2021/22 season was the first for 25 years in which the men's first-team had failed to qualify for UEFA European competition," a statement on Arsenal.com reads. "The loss of the revenue associated with UEFA football was the principal contributory factor in terms of the overall result for the year."
Despite the disappointment of missing out on a top-four finish to bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur nonetheless last season, the north London outfit are back on the European stage this term and made relatively light work of their Europa League group that contained PSV Eindhoven, FK Bodo/Glimt and FC Zurich.
Of course, given their start to the season, the Gunners would have been expected to qualify from that group and doing so with two games to spare has already come with its financial rewards and more can follow which should make next year's financial results look even healthier.
As per UEFA, Arsenal banked €3.6million (£3.1m) just for reaching the Europa League group stage in the first place, and their five victories were ultimately worth €630,000 (£540,000) each - so €3.1million (£2.7m) - and they have also received a further €1.2million (£1m) in prize money for reaching the Round of 16 stage.
That's a total of €7.9million (£6.8m) so far, potentially rising to €21.1million (£18m) if they go all the way as reaching the quarter-finals will earn them €1.8million (£1.5m), a semi-final appearance is worth €2.8million (£2.4m). Lifting the Europa League trophy will earn €8.6million (£7.3m), with the runner-up taking home €4.6million (£4.3m).
In addition, the Gunners are in line to receive coefficient and broadcast payouts, which together amount to 45% of the total prize pot as the more games they play, the more money they will earn from the TV rights holders.
As pointed out in the aforementioned statement, 'qualification for UEFA competition needed to be regained, as a pre-requisite to re-establishing a self-sufficient financial base'. If Arsenal can progress even further in the Europa League then it should have a major impact on available transfer funds come the summer.
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