Arsenal’s clash with Manchester United set to be Premier League’s first billion pound game
The Gunners and the Red Devils' combined turnover totals more than £1.05 billion
The Premier League will see its first "billion-pound game" when Arsenal host Manchester on Saturday, according to financial analysts Vysyble.
The Premier League clash comes a few weeks before the Premier League starts the process of selling the domestic broadcast rights for 2018 to 2021.
The two sides have won a combined 16 Premier League titles since the league's inception in 1992.
Vysyble claims the two sides' combined turnover ensures this weekend's clash at the Emirates is set to be a record breaker.
The claim is based on Arsenal posting revenues of £424million in 2016-17 while United earned a record £581m, taking the clubs' total to £1.05billion.
In a statement, Vysyble's Roger Bell said: "This is a remarkable achievement for the Premier League in terms of reflecting the success in driving revenues via lucrative TV rights deals."
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However, the huge sums coming into the top flight do not translate into profits, as all Premier League clubs spend huge sums on transfer fees and wages.
According to Bell, many financial analysts fail to take into account the true cost of doing business and are actually running up economic losses.
He said: "This is part of a longer-term trend whereby clubs in general are finding it very difficult, despite their record revenue levels, to generate value and achieve an economic profit, which is where all the costs of doing business are accounted for, including taxes.''
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Some have suggested that after a 70 percent rise in the domestic market last time out, the increase at home won't be so great - with the big gains to be made via international rights.
And Bell believes that that will only lead to the so-called, "big six" pushing once more for a greater share - potentially changing the English landscape.
"We continue to worry for the game's longer-term health and structure as the continued quest for revenue will inevitably lead the top clubs to look beyond current competition formats," he said.'
