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

BarcelonaBarça has begun its campaign to secure the approval of its member representatives for the accounts at its virtual meeting on October 19. The club has announced a budget for the 2025-26 season with €1.075 billion in ordinary income, of which only €50 million will be derived from the gradual return to the Camp Nou, which still does not have a clear and defined schedule. due to delays in the works 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 recorded 994 million in operating income thanks to substantial improvements, including record turnover, in sponsorships and merchandising. However, the final result is 17 million in losses due to the increase in sports and non-sports wages, the UEFA fine for breach of the fair play financial crisis and the downward revaluation of Barça Studios, among other things.

Weathering exile with record income

The most positive aspect of Barça's numbers is undoubtedly the even higher-than-expected increase 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 closes the 24-25 financial year with €175 million in revenue, 38% more than the previous season. There is also a very significant improvement in sponsorships. Especially thanks to the new agreement with Nike, Barça has €259 million in sponsorship alone (22% more than the previous year).

On the other hand, the club is once again celebrating good results in terms of merchandising: BLM, the subsidiary that manages this business, has generated €158 million, €51 more than in the 24-25 season. Meanwhile, as for the 70 million seats VIP From the future Camp Nou, Barça says they are not included in the €994 million in operating income. The 44 transfers of players such as Mika Faye and Nico González are.

Looking ahead to the 2025-26 financial year, the trend is for another €50 million to be derived 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 income as the main obstacle, Barça hopes to increase this to the aforementioned €1.075 billion in operating income.

Symptoms that condemned Bartomeu

The bad news comes with the expenses. Operating expenses rose at the close of the 24-25 to 964 million euros due, according to Barça, to the bonuses paid to the men's football squad for the titles won (+6%) and an increase in both non-sporting wages (+10%) and management expenses (32%), such as management expenses (32%). A loss of around 30 million euros associated with Vitor Roque and Clément Lenglet is also recognized. In both cases, the club has had to provide money for their departures to Palmeiras and Atlético de Madrid, respectively.

Extraordinarily, the situation is aggravated by the 15 million euro 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 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 the previous year, which will not greatly impact either the Barça women's team or the sections. The "economic recovery" proclaimed by Joan Laporta's board of directors is a fact considering the income, which exceeds levels prior to the coronavirus pandemic, when Leo Messi was at his peak and the Camp Nou could accommodate almost 100,000 people on big nights. However, if the pace of spending is taken into account, the situation could be reminiscent of the one that ended with the club's financial collapse when Covid-19 hit. In fact, in terms of fair play In the League, normalcy is still more than 100 million away. There's still a lot of work to be done.

Restatement, losses and negative equity

With the €17 million audited as a loss at the close of the 24-25 financial year, 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. It's €230 million, not €140 million, because the company that audits the accounts, Crowe, has demanded a restatement of the 23-24 financial year 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 million.

In short, three of the five years of the current presidential term have ended in losses. And as for the club's total debt, there are two interpretations. The positive one, in accordance with La Liga regulations, says it will rise to €469 million, a reduction of €89 million compared to the previous year. The negative impact, as reflected in the bank's consolidated balance sheet, means that the absolute debt between short-term (654) and long-term (1,429) obligations has reached €2.083 billion. This leaves the Blaugrana's net worth at negative €153 million.