How Villa compare to Premier League rivals in kit revenue

Recently a report was published by ESPN F.C. which neatly detailed all known revenue streams affiliated with Premier League kits. Combining manufacturer contracts and sponsorship deals, a net yearly revenue was generated for all 20 Premier League clubs. The range of funds varies from the $1.1 million yearly for Premier League newcomers Bournemouth to the $195 million of Manchester United.

Villa are higher than most would expect - eighth amongst all 20 members of the Premiership. Villa only trails last season's top 6 and Everton - even outdoing markedly better sides like Southampton ($1.6m) and Swansea City ($6.2m). Villa's yearly revenue of $13.6 million, or £8.75 million, is a combination a manufacturing contract with Italian sportswear company Macron, and newly-agreed kit sponsors Intuit Quickbooks. Macron's four year contract is entering it's final year, and was penned for £15 million, which divides out to £3.75 million per year. Intuit Quickbooks, Tom Fox's first sponsor negotiation, is a two year deal worth £10 million, or £5 million per term. Totaling those two figures together, Villa's kit nets £8.75 million per season. That can buy you an Idrissa Gueye, another Frenchman named Jordan, or Adama Traore, depending on whose reported fee you believe.

There are a couple things to be gained from this data - firstly, that Tom Fox really is pretty good at sponsorship deals. That was reported to be one of his strengths at Arsenal (who make £60 million per year on their shirt) - the fact he was able to get £5 million on an annual basis whereas West Brom are only going to make £1.2 million from their new sponsor shows just the kind of ability he has, and what he may be able to do if Villa continue to climb the table and transform the previous losing culture. While kit revenues, and money in any form, is no guarantee for results on the pitch, the fact that Villa out-generate all teams not not competing for Europe (and some that are) is definitely not a bad omen for how Villa may progress in the coming years.

ESPN estimates that 6 teams (Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Southampton, Norwich City, Leicester City, and West Brom) will generate less than £2 million on their kits this season. That £7 million more that Villa has access to can mean a lot - new players, contracts, facilities, benefits, etc. £7 million is a pretty penny with which to improve a football club, and if this summer has been any indication, hopefully it will continued to be used wisely. Let's hope that Tom Fox keeps making the Villa books look good, and that Randy Lerner keeps his checkbook open for a couple more months.

What do you think? Let us know!