Spain – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

THE BARCELONA story is becoming as volatile as the British government’s approach to post-pandemic economics. After a summer of pulling levers, constructing virtuous circles and signing players, Barca’s president told the annual assembly that “together we have saved the club”. That statement was arguably true, but it did involve selling some of the family silver and allowing their prized asset to leave the Camp Nou.

The financial levers the club referred to involved selling part of their TV rights for a 25 year-period to Sixth Street, raising a huge sum of money that eased their financial pain. On the other hand, many felt Barca were merely kicking a problem down the road and taking a substantial risk.

Barca started the season well, but their Champions League form has not been good and they are on the brink of group stage elimination for the second successive year. The amount they could lose, which could be around € 20 million, would be offset against potential income from finishing third in the group and moving across to the Europa, but the psychological effect of being exiled to Thursday night football is just as significant. If Barca ever needed a good Champions League campaign to remind people of their elite status, it was this season.

The 3-3 draw with Inter Milan in front of 92,000 people was an exciting game that highlighted the appeal of the Champions League; when it’s good, it can be very good. But their failure to trigger another of their famous escapes also provided more evidence that Barca are a diminishing force on the European stage and the timing couldn’t have been worse. Barca are about to face Real Madrid in the first Clásico of 2022-23, and the gossip has centred on the future of coach Xavi – “The confidence in Xavi is intact” – the real agenda of Barca president Joan Laporta and the possibility the club may have to sell more assets or players to raise cash. Some of Barca’s players are long in the tooth, but essentially, the game at the Bernabéu is a meeting between the top two and Barca are on top of the La Liga table. There is not an awful lot wrong with the actual team, Barca’s problem is the past and a period of excess.

It is hard not to see the club’s finances and psyche as acutely precarious, even though they did make a pre-tax profit of € 124 million in 2021-22. Furthermore, they may have generated € 1 billion in 2021-22, but € 344 million of that came from the sale of assets. Take the € 266 million initial TV rights sale out of the equation and revenues were € 750 million. That’s a very good figure, but the club’s sporting payroll totalled € 518 million, down from € 617 million in 2020-21, but still way too burdensome. At the assembly meeting, the club said it was working to terminate the contracts of some high-earning players who are a drain on the wage bill, but this is obviously a sensitive matter.

The club is confident, however, that it can continue to grow revenues in 2022-23 and anticipates an increase to € 1.3 billion, with a pre-tax profit of around € 366 million. At the same time, they see wages rising to € 656 million. This forecast includes the sale of 15% of TV rights for € 400 million. The club also expects to restore equity balance by 2025, slightly ahead of the five-year target they set when Laporta was elected president.

Laporta is still an advocate of a super league, but does not believe a closed league concept is the way ahead. Barcelona were one of the 12 clubs a scheme that was rightly aborted, but there has been renewed energy behind the project, although Laporta sees a structure where the big clubs repeatedly play against each other as an unattractive proposition that would soon become tiresome.

While the loss of Champions League income in itself won’t tip Barcelona into the abyss, it will raise some anxiety at the club. The securitisation of TV rights has been criticised for mortgaging the future, but its success does depend on the club being successful. In other words, Barca is something of a cash machine, but if the club endured a prolonged period of failure, it might cause problems around their long-term sale of TV rights. Hence, every setback will be the source of extreme angst, as we are seeing.

REAL MADRID are on a bit of a cautious high at the moment; European and Spanish champions, in the middle of a stadium redevelopment programme and seemingly starting to bounce back from a financial perspective. Preliminary figures for 2021-22 issued by the club provided further evidence of the resilience of their finances, despite losing around € 400 million through the pandemic.

Real have also started the 2022-23 season well and have a 100% record in the league and Champions League. Although Real were part of the aborted European Super League project, they remain at the forefront of European football.

Real have just reported a remarkable profit of € 13 million for the 2021-22 season, which continues their profitability through the covid-19 years. Their profit for was € 12 million higher than 2020-21 and even higher than 2020’s € 313,000. Their financial performance is in marked contrast to their bitter rivals, Barcelona, who have been mired in crisis over the past couple of years.

When Real won the Champions League last season, it was something of a surprise as many people wrote them off. Their squad has looked a little aged at times, but in 2021-22, they profited from a stellar year from one of their veterans, Karim Benzema who scored 44 goals. Likewise, their coach, Carlo Ancelotti, who returned to the club in 2021, demonstrated his skill in getting the best out of a bunch of seasoned professionals.

Real Madrid (the whole club), generated € 721.5 million in revenues in 2021-22, a 10% increase on 2020-21. This figure is higher than the last two seasons, but still around € 30 million below the peaks of 2018 and 2019. In 2022-23, the club anticipates revenues to head towards € 800 million and make a pre-tax profit of approximately € 5 million.

Interestingly, Real’s cash position has improved, rising from € 122 million to € 425 million. Furthermore, the club has a net liquidity position of € 263 million, a spectacular turnaround from 2021 when they had net debt of € 46.4 million. During the crisis, Real have reduced debt by more than € 300 million. The club’s liquidity felt the benefit of the € 360 million 20-year deal signed with Sixth Street/Legacy for use of the stadium.

During the pandemic, Real had to be relatively conservative around player acquisition and this may have contributed to their failure to land some of their targets in 2021 and 2022. Their net position across 2020-21 to 2021-22 was € 111 million in gross spend and € 274 million receipts, translating to a net positive of € 163 million. In 2022-23, they have spent € 80 million and recouped € 92 million. In the summer of 2022, there were a number of departures of players who had been on Real’s books for some years, notably Marcelo, Gareth Bale, Isco and Casemiro, the latter who was sold to Manchester United for € 70 million. As for the younger players, such as Vínicius Júnior and Rodrygo, they are starting to really flourish, although there are continued rumours they will try and secure Paris Saint-Germain’s Klyian Mbappé in 2022-23.

Real’s president, Florentino Pérez, met with shareholders before announcing the closure of the books for 2021-22 and pointed to the club’s operational efficiency, investment capabilities and cost containment measures, all of which had contributed to the healthier cash and debt positions. Although the effects of the pandemic are clearly subsiding, they are still impacting revenues.

The Bernabéu remodelling is a major project and Real have taken further cash from the loan facility allocated for the project, making the total drawings so far to € 800 million. Real have had problems with their pitch this season, largely due to the new turf which has come from a part of Spain – Extramadura where summer temperatures have soared. The new-look stadium will include a mechanism that will allow the pitch to be stored underground.

Real’s full and segmentalised financial figures will be published in due course.