Everton are a shit-show

Everton tried pulling a page out of the MLB’s book on Sunday. While the world was tuned into Man City vs. Arsenal or tucking into an Easter ham, the Toffees quietly released their 2023 financials, and the results are alarming.

The big picture: Everton reported losses of £89.1 million in 2023 – more than doubling their losses from 2022.

The club’s annual report (which I’ll drop here in case you want to get your Martin Shrkeli on) does not make for pretty reading at a time when their finances are already under scrutiny. Everton already received a ten-point deduction (later reduced to six) for breaches of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) earlier this season, and could face further punishment when the verdict of a second charge is unveiled in the coming days. 👀 

Digging into the numbers

Since Farhad Moshiri bought the club in 2016, Everton have lost more money than any other club in the Premier League. This is the sixth straight season they’ve incurred a loss.

The deterioration in the balance sheet is largely due to a decrease in turnover, reduced offloading of players in the transfer market, and an increase in operating costs. This boils down to two main issues:

• Everton are spending a fuck-ton (more than £800m) on their new stadium.

• The club’s sponsorship deals are falling through left and right.

Everton lost £20m of their contracted income this season after sponsorship deals with USM – a holding company owned by a Russian oligarch – were not renewed due to UK sanctions stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The failure to replace any of these sponsorships reflects the poor condition of the club generally and the ineffectiveness of its commercial strategies. Nowhere else is this performance more evident than on the pitch.

Things are even worse on the pitch

Everton’s loss to Bournemouth on Sunday perfectly encapsulates their misery: on the cusp of winning their first Premier League game since December 16th, and Séamus Coleman scores a hilarious own-goal in stoppage time to gift the Cherries the win. 😂 

The Toffees have scored the second-fewest goals in the league, and currently find themselves just four points off the relegation zone in 16th place. Should the Independent Commission appointed by the Premier League hand the club an additional point deduction, Everton will be in real danger of relegation for the first time since 1953-54.

Sean Dyche’s squad looks about as cohesive as a cat herding contest, and is full of underperforming players – most notably Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The 27-year-old salvaged a point for the Toffees with a late penalty against Newcastle on Tuesday, ending his 23-game goal drought in the Premier League. There are bound to be problems when your club's leading talisman is scoring just one goal every 428 minutes. 😬 

The cause for optimism: While Everton fans’ patience is being pushed to the absolute limit, there’s still hope with new ownership on the horizon. Miami-based 777 Partners struck a deal with Moshiri last September to take over 94.1% of the club, which the Premier League says it won’t block as long as certain conditions are met.

On Friday, Moshiri declared the deal was in the “home straight,” meaning an injection of cash is likely headed the club’s way.