FC Barcelona Finances

Andrew M

Andrew M

New member
Luftstalag14 said:
What do we have to fear financially? A pile of debt, stagnant growth in revenue while expenses are going up the roof. Our revenue growth in the last several years has been less than stellar, this year I expect stronger growth thanks to the new Nike contract and money generated from the CL. But long term prospect? Not looking good.

Don’t ever underestimate Manchester United. Commercially they have the most successful club, having the most number of sponsors, even more than Real Madrid, despite having been lackluster on the pitch. They have fans everywhere, especially in Asia and the US. The fact that we, equipped with the best player in the world Messi, couldn’t generate more commercial revenue than ManU until the 17/18 season speaks volumes about their commercial strength. Plus they and other English clubs have the ever growing TV rights money that no other leagues can catch.

Bayern is very strong financially and commercially, they have zero debt, a lot of cash on hands and the 2nd highest commercial revenue (only second to Real Madrid, more than us) last season. Their weak spots are match day revenue (primarily due to lower ticket prices) and TV money, which Bundesliga is aggressively working on expanding. I am not sure that we will always be bigger than Bayern at all, what is separating us is a mere 60-70m in revenue a year right now, a gap they can totally close. Audi was reportedly going to offer Bayern additional 80m a year to keep their stake there.
Click to expand...

How is our revenue growth stagnant?

2015: 484 ME
2016: 560 ME
2017: 620 ME
2018: 648 ME
2019: 690 ME

As you said, we can expect a big jump come the next Deloitte publication in Jan

Man Utd in last 3 seasons in euros, rather than GBP:

2017: 689 ME
2018: 676 ME
2019: 666 ME

Debt: £487

The domestic tv rights have already contracted so i wouldn't fear that.

Regarding Bayern, only once in the last 15 years have they recorded higher revenues than us.

I really don't see a reason for your bleak forecast of our financial future. I expect us to be close to Real Madrid over the next 5 years
 
Luftstalag14

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
Andrew M said:
How is our revenue growth stagnant?

2015: 484 ME
2016: 560 ME
2017: 620 ME
2018: 648 ME
2019: 690 ME

As you said, we can expect a big jump come the next Deloitte publication in Jan

Man Utd in last 3 seasons in euros, rather than GBP:

2017: 689 ME
2018: 676 ME
2019: 666 ME

Debt: £487

The domestic tv rights have already contracted so i wouldn't fear that.

Regarding Bayern, only once in the last 15 years have they recorded higher revenues than us.

I really don't see a reason for your bleak forecast of our financial future. I expect us to be close to Real Madrid over the next 5 years
Click to expand...

Where did you get the 2019 numbers? You mean 18/19 season numbers? They haven't been published yet as far as I know. What does ME mean by the way?

Well to me our revenue growth before the 18/19 season was slowing down, pace wise. Using your numbers above, from 16/17 season to 17/18 season the growth was only an increase of 28m. Also the point about being behind Manchester United until the 17/18 season is still valid, we only overtook them last year.

Bayern is growing aggressively, I am not saying our overall revenue was below theirs I am saying our commercial portion of the revenue has been less than theirs for a while and they are expecting even more in that department, for example the possible new agreement with Audi which brings in an additional 80m a year. They also have growth opportunities with both Adidas and Deutsche Telekom, who likely to offer much better deals in the near future.

Revenue growth has a lot to do with on the pitch performance (CL money is big) and trophies won, this is how clubs attract eyeballs, fans, followers and advertisers and sponsors. Imagine we couldn't take a lead even with Messi here, what makes you think we will be better, or keeping up with Real Madrid in the next 5 years after Messi is gone?
 
Andrew M

Andrew M

New member
Luftstalag14 said:
Where did you get the 2019 numbers? You mean 18/19 season numbers? They haven't been published yet as far as I know. What does ME mean by the way?

Well to me our revenue growth before the 18/19 season was slowing down, pace wise. Using your numbers above, from 16/17 season to 17/18 season the growth was only an increase of 28m. Also the point about being behind Manchester United until the 17/18 season is still valid, we only overtook them last year.

Bayern is growing aggressively, I am not saying our overall revenue was below theirs I am saying our commercial portion of the revenue has been less than theirs for a while and they are expecting even more in that department, for example the possible new agreement with Audi which brings in an additional 80m a year. They also have growth opportunities with both Adidas and Deutsche Telekom, who likely to offer much better deals in the near future.

Revenue growth has a lot to do with on the pitch performance (CL money is big) and trophies won, this is how clubs attract eyeballs, fans, followers and advertisers and sponsors. Imagine we couldn't take a lead even with Messi here, what makes you think we will be better, or keeping up with Real Madrid in the next 5 years after Messi is gone?
Click to expand...

Those dates correspond to when Deloitte publish their annual money league in Jan of each year, the most respected accounting organization when it comes to this stuff. So the 2019 report is from 2017-18 season. I find it useful to follow the Deloitte reports as Barca release their revenue figures to include non-recurring income such as player transfers, which imo shouldn't count. ME is million euros, sorry.

Man utd have some serious issues given their poor Premier League performance. The CL revenues have increased so they will lose out on around 100 million euros next year compared to us, Madrid and Bayern. They're the ones who should be concerned, not us.

I do fear for our on-pitch performances after Messi retires, however, but I don't think we will suffer for it financially. A huge amount of money will be freed up from his wages so we could just buy another marketable superstar.

I just don't share your pessimism. I don't think we can overtake Real Madrid in the short or medium term but I think we'll keep close enough.
 
Luftstalag14

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
Andrew M said:
Those dates correspond to when Deloitte publish their annual money league in Jan of each year, the most respected accounting organization when it comes to this stuff. So the 2019 report is from 2017-18 season. I find it useful to follow the Deloitte reports as Barca release their revenue figures to include non-recurring income such as player transfers, which imo shouldn't count. ME is million euros, sorry.

Man utd have some serious issues given their poor Premier League performance. The CL revenues have increased so they will lose out on around 100 million euros next year compared to us, Madrid and Bayern. They're the ones who should be concerned, not us.

I do fear for our on-pitch performances after Messi retires, however, but I don't think we will suffer for it financially. A huge amount of money will be freed up from his wages so we could just buy another marketable superstar.

I just don't share your pessimism. I don't think we can overtake Real Madrid in the short or medium term but I think we'll keep close enough.
Click to expand...

My biggest fear is once Messi is gone we will take a nose dive sporting wise with scattered and few and far between trophies if we do not successfully rebuild, fans, advertisers and sponsors will drop us in droves and we take a huge blow in revenue generated from all three sources (match day, TV and prize money, commercial and merchandising) and we start the vicious circle like the Milan clubs did.

We can’t take things for granted. Nothing is guaranteed, everything goes up and down and there are ebbs and flows. Everything hinges on how we perform on the pitch and that is down to how we plan post-Messi transition and rebuild.
 
Andrew M

Andrew M

New member
Luftstalag14 said:
My biggest fear is once Messi is gone we will take a nose dive sporting wise with scattered and few and far between trophies if we do not successfully rebuild, fans, advertisers and sponsors will drop us in droves and we take a huge blow in revenue generated from all three sources (match day, TV and prize money, commercial and merchandising) and we start the vicious circle like the Milan clubs did.

We can’t take things for granted. Nothing is guaranteed, everything goes up and down and there are ebbs and flows. Everything hinges on how we perform on the pitch and that is down to how we plan post-Messi transition and rebuild.
Click to expand...


I agree that what we do on the pitch is the priority. However, it is pretty alarmist to compare us to Milan. Remember that the reason for much of their success since the late 80s was due to Berlusconi's wealth. When he pulled out it all went sour.

I would even argue that your position on this is quite irrational. You have to bare in mind that the beginning of our fiscal growth can be traced back to 2003 when Laporta became president. I'm sure you've seen the documentary where they compare our numbers to Man Utd's (while accepting Real Madrid is a different beast), and how we must learn from their commercial strategies and reach in new different markets etc. In 2004 their revenues were far bigger than ours, and now 15 years later we generate more money.

My point is that our trend towards growth has not been predicated on Messi. He's part of it, and his legend shall be after, but our brand can create new superstars.
 
Luftstalag14

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
Andrew M said:
I agree that what we do on the pitch is the priority. However, it is pretty alarmist to compare us to Milan. Remember that the reason for much of their success since the late 80s was due to Berlusconi's wealth. When he pulled out it all went sour.

I would even argue that your position on this is quite irrational. You have to bare in mind that the beginning of our fiscal growth can be traced back to 2003 when Laporta became president. I'm sure you've seen the documentary where they compare our numbers to Man Utd's (while accepting Real Madrid is a different beast), and how we must learn from their commercial strategies and reach in new different markets etc. In 2004 their revenues were far bigger than ours, and now 15 years later we generate more money.

My point is that our trend towards growth has not been predicated on Messi. He's part of it, and his legend shall be after, but our brand can create new superstars.
Click to expand...

Sure, we have come a long way since those days and it is a big accomplishment to get to where we are today, no doubt about it. I think our financial success and growth in the last decade or so had a lot to do with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Pep etc., the trophies and popularity they brought us. We were good before but they brought us to a whole new level of popularity which stimulated growth tremendously. What I am concerned about is in the future whether we have what it takes to not fall behind. Manchester United itself is a good example, they were much bigger (revenue wise) than us back then and look at what a decade did to them, they were caught up by clubs like us. They are still a big dinosaur for sure, still very influential like I said but we could be like them if not careful.

One reason why I am quite looking forward to Victor Font is he highlighted the urgency for us to compete with wealthy clubs backed by nation states and billionaires and he has some revolutionary ideas about broadening our revenue streams (some of them might be a bit outlandish and might not work), it shows me that he is thinking ahead already.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Home of Barca Fans

Top