Spanish professional clubs have virtually recovered pre-pandemic income levels and are the ones to record the lowest total losses in the great footballing Europe. This is evident from the economic report on the 21-22 season presented this Thursday by LaLiga, an organization that emphasizes “the success and soundness of a model based on financial sustainability”. Total revenue was 4,838 million, again reaching the maximum historical level of the 19-20 season, after the sharp contraction of the 21-22 academic year, which reduced this record to less than 4,000 million and now shows significant annual growth has reached 22.6%. Logically, the game that saw the greatest growth is that of ‘matchday’, with an increase of 123% thanks to the general return of the crowd to the stadiums and the lifting of capacity restrictions during the early part of the match. from the season. There was also remarkable growth in commercial revenue (+2.9%) in a difficult economic context, reversing some of last year’s loss of sales due to the pandemic. With these figures, LaLiga once again regains second position in the major leagues, both in absolute and relative terms, measured per capita and at the same price level. In this regard, the recovery of first place in relative terms will happen naturally in the coming seasons, when pre-Covid activity returns to the player transfer market, which is more contracted in Spain. Falling wage costs In terms of total expenses, the costs of sports personnel remain the largest item at 47%, although the weight of wage costs relative to the Net Amount of Business Figure (INCN) has fallen from 81.2% to 75.1% , and in relation to total income from 61.4% to 54.5%. According to LaLiga, “this shows the effort the clubs are making to control costs, with a view to optimizing their operational efficiency and improving their financial situation.” The total net result of the Spanish league was still a loss of 140 million in 21-22, but with a deficit apparently lower than that of the previous year and also that of the other major leagues. The Bundesliga in Germany suffered a loss of 205 million, the LFP in France 601, the Premier League and Championship about -1,005 million and for Series A and B the losses are about 1,150 million. According to Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, this data “comes to confirm the sustainable model of LaLiga and the Bundesliga, unlike other models based on the lack of adequate economic control and on the continued losses of their clubs, financed with systematic and massive contributions from the shareholders, that is, let’s say, an undeniable financial doping that changes the rules of fair play and distorts competition». The total EBITDA of the Spanish league, both before and after the outcome of player transfers, was again positive at 23.9 million and 280.8 million respectively. It is an important step forward, but still a long way from pre-pandemic annual records. In this sense, it is important to emphasize that it will take a few more years before the long-term negative effects of this health crisis are fully overcome, a situation shared by all European reference leagues, although the global situation of LaLiga is particularly favorable in comparison. The evolution of activity in the players’ market probably represents the clearest indicator of this situation in professional football. The lower activity in the player market has a strong impact on the sales price for transfers. (deletion of players), but the “automatic stabilisers” activated by LaLiga ensure that the adjustment is largely carried out by the pace of purchase prices for transfers (registration of players), affecting the balance sheet and financial physiognomy of the players.clubs. Favorable evolution Thanks to this favorable evolution, the total organic operating cash flow of competitors (before net investments in infrastructure) has also turned positive again, at 104.3 million, for the first time since the 18-19 season. As a result, net debt has barely grown by 0.8% since last year to 2,102.4 million. It should be noted that the positive aggregate records of Ebitda and organic operating cash flow do not take into account the hundreds of millions in profit and the extraordinary financial resources that Real Madrid and Barcelona have obtained as a result of monetizing their company assets or selling rights futures . Total net investment grew again thanks to increased investments in infrastructure, with important actions in stadiums and sports cities. It is expected to continue to rise thanks to the maturation of Impulse Plan investments and other relevant comprehensive innovations such as Spotify Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabéu. With regard to the forecasts for the current 22-23 season, it is estimated that the growth of income will continue gradually and, more importantly, that the total net profit will be recorded again in the Spanish professional league.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
