£54M Ambition EXPOSED: Birmingham City Vows to Out-Earn Every Club in Championship History
Birmingham City’s American owners claim they can make more money than any other club has ever managed in the Championship as they try to muscle past Stoke City and Co
A bullish prediction about Birmingham City’s soaring income has been described as ‘optimistic… but not out of the question’ by a leading football finance analyst.
Birmingham chairman Tom Wagner has claimed that the club’s revenue will rocket as they return to the Championship following a big-spending year in League One – to the extent that they “will be the highest revenue generating club in the Championship ever not receiving parachute payments”.
It is a major subplot heading into the 2025/26 season when potentially only three clubs in the division will be in receipt of parachutes and it has been put under the spotlight by Kieron O’Connor, who runs the comprehensive and respected blog Swiss Ramble.
O’Connor disputes Wagner’s estimation that Birmingham are in England’s top 20 for generating cash if television revenue was removed, putting the Blues at 29th with £20 million according to latest accounts. Stoke City are 28th with £22.4m while Bristol City were 19th with £32.6m, Norwich 21st with £28.5m and Sunderland 22nd with £27.7m and Coventry 30th with £19.2m.
Yet he adds: “But his point is not completely invalid and their revenue streams are likely to further grow. Normally, a club’s revenue would reduce following relegation from the Championship to League One, but whispers suggest that Birmingham still earned an impressive £25-30m last season.
“This would be one of the highest ever in the third tier, but still less than Sunderland’s £59m in 2018/19, which included a hefty parachute payment after two consecutive relegations.
“If (Wagner’s prediction about next year are correct), this implies that Birmingham’s revenue will be more than £54m next season, as that is the current record held by Leeds United. This might seem a little optimistic, but Ipswich Town’s revenue recently increased by 71 per cent after their promotion from League One in 2022/23, so it is not out of the question.”
The size of sponsorship deals that Birmingham have secured with Delta, Coral and Vertu Motors over the last year or so will be telling.
These figures are so important in the Championship because they are tied to how much a club can spend in the transfer market. In brief, clubs are allowed losses of up to £39m over a rolling three-year period but this does not include spending on aspects such as academy or infrastructure.
The rules are different in League One, where Birmingham – in the first year after relegation – was allowed to spend 75 per cent of its revenue on football costs plus 100 per cent of its ‘football fortune’, which is an umbrella tag for money coming in via player sale profits, cup runs and, crucially and differently from the Championship, owner investment in the form of equity.
O’Connor said: “The club said that it had complied ‘in all material aspects’ in 2023/24 (when they were last in the Championship), adding ‘there was no material breach’, which suggests to me that they were there or thereabouts, maybe even slightly over the threshold.
“Indeed, my model suggests that Birmingham were just about ok in 2023/24, despite reporting £66m of losses over the three-year monitoring period, as they could deduct an estimated £27m for allowable deductions for ‘healthy’ expenditure and Covid impact. That would bring them in line with the maximum £39m loss permitted by the EFL, though this obviously depends on my assumptions.
“There was more flexibility in League One. However, this is far from a free pass, as Birmingham will be back to the three-year monitoring period following promotion, so next season’s PSR calculation will incorporate any excesses from the previous season.”
