How FC Barcelona became the King of Revenue

In early 2020, FC Barcelona was crowned the “King of Revenue” by the Deloitte Football Money League with a record of 840.8 million Euros registered in the 2018/2019 season. Although its strategic plan was only published in late 2015 to make it the most admired, adored and global sports institution, the beginning of Blaugranas financial evolution dates back to 2003 with the entry of Joan Laporta and young entrepreneurs to the presidency in the elections with more participations until that date.

After winning the championship in 1998/1999, some disastrous seasons followed, culminating in a sixth place in La Liga in 2002/2003 (worst position since 1987/1988). The financial situation was not the best and the 123.4 million generated in 2002/2003, represented half the amount accumulated by clubs like Manchester United FC and almost represented the total salaries cost (88%). The debt had accumulated to probative levels. It was urgent to do something inside the club.

The elected managements premises were spectacle football and social commitment, having chosen, instead of reducing costs, to follow a more aggressive approach in order to obtain results more quickly on and off the field.

As of the 2003/2004 season, the Spanish club started a process of diversification and internationalization of its revenues, allied to its sustainability, management capacity, and innovation. Although the financial results have been sustained in times of huge sporting success, such as those of 2008/2009 and 2014/2015, the club has been working towards increasing its revenues autonomy from performance on the field, with visible results. The chart below shows that, with the exception of the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons when growth was almost nil, FC Barcelona has grown its revenue exponentially with an average annual growth rate of 13%.

The first most visible results came in the 2005/2006 season with the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. Between 2002/2003 and 2005/2006, matchday revenues grew by 35 million Euros (83%), broadcast revenues by 51.5 million (121%) and commercial revenues by 49.4 million (126%).

Timeline

Throughout these seasons, there have been several key events, with 3 presidents, 10 international titles, and 24 national titles. In 15 seasons (2004/2005 to 2018/2019), FC Barcelona reached the same number of international titles (10) as in the previous 105 years (1899-2004) while at the national level, it reached almost a third of its titles (32%).

It is important to highlight the main events over the past few years to subsequently analyze the revenue streams and the clubs strategy.

2003/2004