Some points I would make:
The key component of sponsorship revenues is regular participation in the Champions League, not success in the Premiership. Given we have never been in the Champions League beyond one brief appearance in the qualifying round it's not surprising then that our sponsorship deals reflect this.
Secondly most teams report commercial revenues in their entirety (as it helps reduce the wage to turnover ration). They account for commercial costs usually hidden in other operating costs. Everton are correct in saying it is difficult to make direct comparisons as the revenues Everton report go straight to the bottom line as costs are accounted for by their commercial partners, Kitbag. At the end of the day revenues are vanity, profits are sanity (as the saying goes)
Thirdly, the growth in revenues arising from a new stadium is in my opinion greatly over-estimated in terms of its importance, especially when considered against the cost of capital required to produce the stadium. A 50,000 seater stadium with say 90% occupancy would generate £7.5 m in extra revenues. Assuming the stadium is paid for at least partially by debt then quite quickly the net revenues arising from the stadium apear even less significant.
There's little doubt that Kitbag's policy of only distributing through 2 stores and our online presence is limiting. There's little doubt that more pressure should be applied to Kitbag to improve distribution channels for Everton merchandise, but there's no evidence (in fact contrary evidence) that the club would be any better off by bringing the operations in house. If we were to do so it would require a proper commercial director, not a PR man with potential conflicts of interest doing a part time job.
