Arsenal cup ties allow Bates to get his wallet out... McCartney back... *UPDATE*

One story that caught my eye this week was one containing facts and figures about money earned from the cup run we currently find ourselves in. The YEP says:

"Leeds are believed to have earned in excess of £500,000 for last Saturday's initial tie at the Emirates Stadium – a match which pulled in a broadcast fee of £144,000 – and Wednesday's replay at Elland Road will generate £72,000 in television money alone after ITV opted to cover the game for a second time."

I love to see hard facts and figures about our clubs finances, since we rarely do get such figures out of the club itself. It's surprising just how much a good tie can bring, and with a sell-out certain for Wednesday the coffers are sure to bulge.

We've seen this money already being spent in getting George McCartney back from Sunderland. It looked like this was not going to happen after Sunderland asked us to give a greater contribution towards his wages, but he's returned on a deal until the end of the season as our cup money goes straight into action. It's a great signing, as we are light at left back. Parker is good enough, in my opinion, but fitness is a question evidently, as Grayson felt the need to further strengthen in this position. 

The Chairman told us:

"The additional revenue earned from the Arsenal game has helped make this loan possible as we continue to invest both on and off the field."

He also said:

"In our budget we always assume we'll be drawn away for both the Carling Cup and FA Cup, knocked out in the first round and have no TV. We assume very little income."

A very smart way of doing things, everything we achieve bar the league games during the season is then, a bonus monetarily. And currently, we are seeing the rewards of this bonus.

Bates also hinted we could see further strengthening should Simon ask:

"Simon has my full support if and when he decides who he wants. Obviously we don't have a bottomless pit. We're not in debt and we don't intend to be so we're going to be conservative.

"But there are good players out there and if Simon decides he wants to bring them in then watch this space."

Hopefully this will see us bring in one or two more faces to strengthen our cause further for the second half of the season. Providing we can keep our feet on the ground in the league, and keep everyone fit, the benefits of a cup run are clear for all to see.

It's nice to see Bates coming out with clear comment regarding possible spending. It should be obvious that fans expect to hear what their money/money earned in general is doing for the club regards investment and it's good to hear the Chairman give the fans at least some comment about this often prickly issue. To be fair, he has stated often that Grayson has the backing of the club when he requires a specific player and we're hearing more of the same. On the pitch investment must continue for the fans to remain (relatively) content.

*UPDATE* Unsurprisingly, Bates has received criticism for not including 3rd Round income in his pre-season budget. The point of this is, we could tie someone like Crawley Town and not generate anything like the £500,000 we have so far from one game against Arsenal. It's not to do with him seemingly saying we don't budget for a tie that we're guaranteed to be part of, its who we play in this tie that can't be scripted and hence isn't budgeted for. By luck we got Arsenal and thus the £500,000 becomes additional income, probably about £450,000 more than if we'd received a non-league side.

ITV would pay nothing like the TV money for a start if we received a lower supported/stature team, then there's the 60,000 seats worth of money we split with Arsenal, again which wouldn't happen if we drew anyone bar about 5 teams in the country.  Additionally, we get the income from a replay, which is not guaranteed to occur and hence shouldn't be budgeted for. So, the money we are receiving in these two ties is in effect bonus cash and so far its pleasing that it seems to have been utilised to some extent.