Mike Ashley’s lack of care as Newcastle United owner continues to hurt the club three and a half years after his exit.
After 14 years under Mike Ashley, the PIF takeover in 2021 marked a new, exciting chapter for Newcastle United.
The Magpies deteriorated under Ashley, who made countless controversial decisions while in charge at St James’ Park – or as he would prefer it to be called, the Sports Direct Arena.
Ashley quickly became an unpopular figure at Newcastle, so while the new Saudi Arabian owners of the club also split opinion, most fans were just happy to see the back of him.
The club’s financial decline under Ashley has led to Newcastle’s current problems with the Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules.
Newcastle have gone three consecutive transfer windows without signing any direct improvements to Eddie Howe’s starting XI. Ashley’s mismanagement is largely to blame.
Kieran Maguire blames Mike Ashley for £75m Newcastle issue
The PSR regulations state that top-flight clubs can lose a maximum of £105m over a rolling three-year period. It means a club’s revenue is a hugely important factor to how much they can spend.
Revenue will be even more important next season when the Premier League pivots to new squad-cost financial rules that allow top-flight clubs to spend 85 percent of their club revenue on transfer fees, wages and agent fees.
Since the takeover, PIF have worked hard to increase club revenue. One area in particular where Newcastle have struggled to keep up is commercially – an area that was neglected by Ashley.
According to the latest figures released by Deloitte, Newcastle’s commercial income has increased to £75m – however that is still lightyears behind Premier League giants with Manchester City earning a staggering £338m.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire explained to Chronicle Live that Ashley is to blame for the lack of commercial development at Newcastle.
“The clubs they [Newcastle] are going up against have the legacy benefit of an additional 10-15 years of regularly qualifying for Europe,” Maguire said.
“The Mike Ashley years were fallow in terms of the development of the commercial side of the club.
“We don’t fall in love with football because of commercial deals and sponsors, but it certainly hasn’t helped that there was zero growth in commercial revenue.
“Man City have increased theirs by five or six-fold in the same period. It’s a 1,500-metre race and Newcastle have effectively got to run an extra lap behind everyone else, which makes it that much more difficult.”
How PIF have increased revenue at Newcastle United
The latest Deloitte figures claim Newcastle have increased their revenue to around £300m – marking a huge increase from the end of Ashley’s era.
Despite PIF’s mass wealth, the regulations prohibit them from simply bankrolling the club to the top, instead they have had to explore every opportunity to grow revenue.
Commercial income has been boosted by new sponsorship agreements such as the £30m per year Adidas deal and the Sela partnership agreement.
Prize money from qualifying for the Champions League and securing better Premier League finishes has boosted income considerably too.
READ MORE: £73m PSR boost is one of three reasons Newcastle United should be positive despite quiet January
Finally, finance expert Adam Williams predicted a new stadium would provide a £200m PSR boost to Newcastle by increasing the matchday income received by the club.
Alternatively, if they choose to expand St James’ Park, that would also boost matchday income – which was recorded at just £38million in the latest 2022/23 accounts.
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