2023-05-04 14:15:49
Spanish professional clubs have practically recovered the level of income prior to the pandemic and are the ones that registered the lowest aggregate losses in the great footballing Europe. This is indicated by the economic report on the 21-22 season presented this Thursday by LaLiga, an organization that highlights “the success and solidity of a model based on financial sustainability.”
Total revenue stood at 4,838 million, once again reaching the maximum historical level of the 19-20 season, after the severe contraction of the 21-22 academic year, which reduced this record to below 4,000 million and which has now reached a considerable annual growth of 22.6%.
Logically, the game that experienced the greatest growth has been that of ‘matchday’, with an increase of 123% due to the return of the public to the stadiums in a general way and the lifting of the restrictions on capacity throughout the first part it’s from the season. There was also notable growth in commercial revenues (+2.9%) in a difficult economic context, recovering part of the loss in revenue from the previous year as a result of the pandemic.
With these figures, LaLiga once again recovers the second position in the big leagues, both in absolute and relative terms, measuring per capita income and at the same price level. In this regard, the recovery of first place in relative terms will occur naturally over the coming seasons, when pre-Covid activity returns to the player transfer market, which is more contracted in Spain.
Salary costs drop
In terms of total expenses, the cost of sports staff continues to be the largest item with 47%, although the weight of salary costs in relation to the Net Business Figure (INCN) has dropped from 81 .2% to 75.1%, and in relation to total income from 61.4% to 54.5%. According to LaLiga, this “demonstrates the effort that the clubs are making to contain costs, with a view to optimizing their operational efficiency and improving their financial situation.”
The aggregate net result of the Spanish competition was still at losses of 140 million in 21-22, but with a level of deficit ostensibly lower than that of the previous year and also that of the other major leagues. The Bundesliga in Germany suffered a decrease of 205 million, the LFP in France 601, the Premier League and Championship around -1,005 million and for Series A and B approximately the losses are 1,150 million.
According to Javier Tebas, president of the League, these data “come to confirm the sustainable model of LaLiga and the Bundesliga, in contrast to other models based on the absence of adequate economic control and on the constant losses of their clubs, financed with systematic and huge contributions of resources from its shareholders, that is to say, an undeniable financial doping that alters the rules of ‘fair play’ and adulterates the competition».
The aggregate EBITDA of the Spanish competition, both before and after the results for player transfers, was once again in positive territory, with 23.9 million and 280.8 million, respectively. It is an important advance, but still far from the annual records achieved before the pandemic.
In this sense, it is important to highlight that the long-term negative effects derived from this health crisis will still take a few years to be completely overcome, a situation shared by all the European reference competitions, although the global situation of LaLiga is especially favorable in comparative terms.
The evolution of player market activity probably represents the clearest indicator of this situation in professional football. The lower activity in the player market is having a strong impact on the sale price for transfers. (removal of players), but the “automatic stabilizers” activated by LaLiga are causing the adjustment to be carried out to a large extent by the pacing of purchase prices for transfers (registration of players), effectively protecting the balance sheet and financial physiognomy of the players. clubs.
favorable evolution
This favorable evolution has also allowed the competition’s aggregate organic operating cash flow (before net investment in infrastructures) to return to being positive, with 104.3 million, for the first time since the 18-19 season. As a consequence of this, net debt has barely grown by 0.8% since the previous year, standing at 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 of profits and the extraordinary financial resources obtained by Real Madrid and Barcelona as a result of their corporate asset monetization or rights sale operations. futures.
Total net investment grew again thanks to increased investment in infrastructure, with important actions in stadiums and sports cities. It is expected to continue increasing thanks to the entry into maturity of the investments of the Impulse Plan and other relevant comprehensive renewals such as Spotify Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabéu.
Regarding the forecasts for the current 22-23 season, it is estimated that the growth in income will continue gradually and, most importantly, that aggregate net profits will once again be registered in the Spanish professional competition.
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