Stoke City recorded a pre-tax profit of around £60 million ($66 million) for the year ending 31 May 2025, following the write-off of £90.5 million ($99.5 million) in intragroup loans from former owner bet365.
Financial statements filed with Companies House show that the Championship club made an operating loss of £29.5 million ($32.5 million), slightly higher than the £26.2 million ($28.8 million) loss recorded the previous year.
However, the overall financial result was substantially improved by a corporate restructuring that allowed a significant portion of the club’s debt to be written off — this restructuring involved the separation of Stoke City and bet365, which took place on 8 July 2024.
After Stoke City Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries were separated from bet365 Group Limited to the current owner and chairman John Coates, all intragroup loans totaling £90.5 million ($98.5 million) were waived as part of the deal.
Stoke City’s Connection with bet365
The Coates family has deep roots in the betting business: John Coates is the son of veteran retail bookmaker Peter Coates, and together with his sister Denise, they serve as joint CEOs of the betting giant bet365. The Stoke-on-Trent-based business maintains a strong connection with the football club.
Peter Coates purchased Stoke City in 1986 and owned the club for 12 years before it was sold to an Icelandic consortium led by Gunnar Gíslason.
The Coates family, through bet365, repurchased Stoke City in 2006 and oversaw the club’s promotion to the Premier League in 2008, followed by relegation back to the Championship in the 2017/18 season. Since then, the club has competed in the second tier of English football.
The 2024 restructuring left the group debt-free while transferring ownership of the bet365 Stadium and the Clayton Wood training facility to Stoke City Holdings Limited.
Accounting for the debt write-off alongside the operating loss, the club reported an overall profit of over £60 million ($66 million) for the financial year.
Debt-Free but Still Struggling
Despite the reported profit, the club continues to operate with significant underlying losses.
Revenue, however, increased from £32.3 million ($35.5 million) to £35.4 million ($38.9 million), largely driven by higher central distributions from the English Football League (EFL) following a new broadcast agreement with Sky.
Operating expenses also rose to £65.1 million ($71.6 million) compared with £63 million ($69.3 million) the previous year, contributing to the widening operating deficit.
Employment costs, which include wages paid to full-time players and academy scholars, fell slightly to £30.3 million ($33.3 million), reflecting the financial constraints imposed by the EFL’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR).
Stoke City finished 18th in the Championship, with average league attendance rising slightly to 22,805. The club currently sits 14th after 35 games into the 2025/26 season.
Only £7.3 million ($8.0 million) was spent on player registrations, compared with £18.2 million ($20.0 million) the previous year. Profit from player sales amounted to just £151,000 ($166,000), significantly down from £4.4 million ($4.84 million) the previous year, when the club secured seven-figure fees for Josh Tymon and Jacob Brown, contributing to the higher operating loss.
Stoke City’s directors acknowledged that, like many Championship clubs, the business model remains reliant on owner funding unless the club returns to the Premier League, generates higher profits from player transfers, or benefits from changes to football’s revenue distribution system.
The club continues to maintain strong links with bet365 — the city’s largest private-sector employer and the naming rights sponsor of the 30,000-seat stadium.
The 2024 restructuring was justified by club representatives on licensing grounds and as “a more sustainable way for bet365 to continue its global expansion.” It also meant that the club’s future would remain in the hands of a member of the bet365 family.
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