FC Barcelona has suffered financially due to the pandemic as they see a reduction of €203m in their revenues. The Spanish giants also reported a post-tax loss of €97m for the year to the end of June.
In 2015, Barcelona set a target of breaking the €1bn barrier by 2021, a goal that now appears impossible. The club is already estimating a further drop of €199m for the current financial year compared to 2018-19, with predicted revenues of €791m for 2020-21.
While the clubs lower down the pyramid fear financial breakdown, for FC Barcelona the crisis has threatened its ambition to become the first to post annual revenues of more than €1bn.
Barcelona reported revenues of €855m for the year till June 30, down 14% from a year earlier. The club said they would have been €203m higher if the pandemic didn’t take place. In its statement, Barcelona claimed that it is one of the most affected clubs due to its diverse revenue streams. The club also suffered a considerable loss of income from games being played behind closed doors.
Ticket refunds and lower sales accounted for a €47m drop-off in expected earnings, while income from media and TV rights also declined steeply, falling 17% worth 249m. The club also took a €37m hit on sponsorship deals that were at an advanced state of negotiation before the pandemic but could not be completed.
There has also been a decrease in stadium tours due to the pandemic. The club partly managed to reduce the slump in income by cutting costs by €74m via agreed salary reductions and temporary redundancies.
Without the pandemic, it estimated, Barcelona would have achieved a profit of €2m for this fiscal year.
The club expects to see another drop in revenues for the current year to €791m – based on the assumption that its stadium will partially reopen from December with 25% capacity, increasing to 100% by February.