How much is Arsenal worth?

We’re only looking at financial value here so although Arsenal means everything to some of their fans, and Stan Kroenke has obvious genuine love for the club, the fans and literally everything in Holloway*, we won’t be trying to quantify either of those.

How much to buy the club?

So how much is Arsenal worth? The short answer is about $2.3/£1.8 billion. That’s the number Forbes put on the club in their annual splurge of educatedly guessing the financial value of everything from DJs to chief marketing officers.

Now Forbes don’t have any more access to Arsenal’s bank account than I do, so they have to do a bit of SWAGing. In their own words:

Team values are enterprise values (equity plus net debt) and are calculated in euros and converted to U.S. dollars and British pounds based on April 19, 2019, exchange rates. The values include the economics of the team’s stadium, but exclude the value of the real estate. Operating income is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, player trading and disposal of player registrations. Debt is interest bearing borrowings (including stadium debt) and is based on April 19, 2019, exchange rates.

So if you want to buy the club you’ll need to find the best part of $2.5 billion plus a bit extra to help Stan repair his heartstrings from losing something he holds so dear**.

How much are the players worth?

If like me $2.5 billion is a bit above your overdraft limit, another option might be to start a new club and buy the entire Arsenal squad. (Weird idea but I needed a segue.)

According to https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-arsenal/marktwertanalyse/verein/11 the total value is £521,415,000 with the most valuable player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang valued at £50.4 million. The lowest valued player is ‘keeper Matt Macey with an estimated price tag of £225,000.

Over half a billion pounds estimated market value in the squad, and they’ll all be expecting a wage. That means adding another £100 million or so.

But players aren’t the only paid staff at a club. There’s the management team, scouting staff, medical team, analysts, catering, marketing, maintenance, cleaning, stewards and all manner of administration working to keep the wheels turning. The total wage bill is reported to be as high as £320 million per year.

What if I don’t have several million pounds?

If you’re still desperate to own Arsenal but need the money for Europa Cup away games, don’t worry. The team can be yours for £10.99 at https://www.subbuteoworld.co.uk/subbuteo-teams/premier-league.

* Sarcasm
** Also sarcasm