Manchester City could lose more than £300 million in revenue if they are relegated to the Championship following the Premier League’s guilty verdict on 114 financial rule breaches, according to football finance specialist Kieran Maguire.
The club have appealed the panel’s finding that they used sham sponsorship deals to artificially inflate revenue by around £900 million between 2009 and 2018. City claim they have ‘irrefutable evidence’ of innocence, with part of their defence resting on sponsorship money from the United Arab Emirates government being lawful under Premier League rules.
Should the appeal fail and City face relegation, Maguire told The i Paper that the club would forfeit £50 million in broadcasting revenue, £225 million in Champions League income and approximately £40 million in matchday revenue from reduced corporate hospitality prices—a combined shortfall of £315 million.
City’s wage bill for 2024/25 stands at around £408.4 million, vastly exceeding the average Championship wage bill of £37 million. Maguire described the scenario as “an FFP catastrophe unless there is a huge exodus.” The appeal could be heard within 12 weeks, potentially producing a final verdict by the new year.
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