The green (and red) lights of Barça's "economic recovery"

BarcelonaFC Barcelona has begun its campaign to secure the approval of its member representatives for the accounts at the virtual meeting on October 19. This Tuesday, it announced a budget for the 25-26 season with €1.075 billion in ordinary income, of which only €50 million will be derived from the gradual return to the Camp Nou, something that still lacks a clear and defined timeline due to delays in construction and in obtaining permits from Barcelona City Council. The other side of such an optimistic forecast is the expenses, which will also exceed €1 billion, leaving a modest profit of €5 million at the end of this year.

As for the close of the 24-25 campaign, Barça has recorded €994 million in operating income thanks to substantial improvements, including record turnover, in sponsorships and merchandising. However, the final result is 17 million losses due to the increase in the sports and non-sports wage bill, the UEFA fine for non-compliance with the fair play The financial crisis and the downward revaluation of Barça Studios, among other things. Below are the green and red lights for the accounts based on the documentation made available before the meeting and the conclusions of the auditing firm, Crowe.

Weathering exile with record revenues

The most positive aspect of the numbers Barça has presented is, without a doubt, the increase, even above expectations, in the most traditional areas of the football business. Regarding the items related to stadium operations, and partly thanks to the surplus of thousands of season ticket holders that allows for more ticket sales in the Montjuïc exile, the club ends the 2024-25 financial year with 175 million euros in revenue, 38% more than the previous season. There is also a very substantial improvement in sponsorships. Especially thanks to the new agreement with Nike, Barça has 259 million euros in sponsorship alone (22% more than the previous year).

On the other hand, the club continues to celebrate the good results in terms of merchandising: BLM, the subsidiary that manages this business branch, has revenue of 158 million euros, 51 million euros more than in the 2024-25 season. Not included in the 994 million operating income are the 70 of the famous seats VIP of the future Camp Nou. The 44 transfers of players like Mika Faye and Nico González are.

Looking ahead to the 2025-26 financial year, the trend is forecasting another 50 million euros from the return to Camp Nou starting in the second quarter of the season (November-January), as well as an increase in sponsorship and merchandising. With commercial revenue as the main obstacle, Barça hopes to increase operating income to 1.075 billion euros.

Symptoms that condemned Bartomeu

The bad news comes with the expenses. Operating expenses rose at the close of the 24th and 25th quarter to €964 million due, according to Barça, to bonuses paid to the men's football squad for titles won (+6%) and an increase in both non-sporting wages (+10%) and management expenses (+32%), for example. There is also a loss associated with the transfers of Vitor Roque and Clément Lenglet.

Extraordinarily, the picture is aggravated by the €15 million fine from UEFA for breaching the fair play financial and above all with a new deterioration of the black hole of Barça Studios, which forces the entity to record extraordinary losses worth 64 million, which is offset by the extraordinary income of 70 million from the seats VIP. All of this, after paying corporate tax, causes the losses for the year to reach the aforementioned 17 million.

As for expenses, the club's projections are not very encouraging. In fact, management expenses will continue to skyrocket (+19%) and sports salaries will also increase to 565 million, 31 more than last year, which will not have much impact on either the Barça women's team or the professional sections. The "economic recovery" proclaimed by Joan Laporta's board of directors is a fact considering the income, which exceeds pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, when Leo Messi was at his peak and the Camp Nou could accommodate almost 100,000 people on big nights. However, if we take into account the pace of spending and the upward trend in sports salaries, the situation may be reminiscent of the one that ended with the club's financial collapse when Covid hit.

Restatement and accumulation of losses in the mandate

With the €17 million audited as a loss at the close of the 24-25 period, the mandate Laporta must renew in the coming months already has a €230 million deficit despite having sold some €900 million in assets to ensure short-term liquidity. This figure is €230 million, not €140 million, because the auditing firm, Crowe, has requested a restatement of the close of the 23-24 period and the recording of another €90 million in losses due to a correction in the calculation of the tax impact of several transactions (-€50.4 million), the elimination of an asset for €5.5 million, and €5.5 million. In short, three of the five years of the current presidential term have ended in losses.