As a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, clubs in Spain’s La Liga saw a 6.5 percent loss in revenue for the 2019-20 season, with aggregate figures for the top division of Spanish football falling to €2.92 billion ($3.56 billion). In total, teams in Spain’s top and second leagues earned more than €3.32 billion in revenue during the season, omitting transfers and other non-ordinary earnings, a 6% decrease from the season prior.
The data for 2019/20 season was published by Palco23, a Spanish journal that has created a new club-by-club analysis analysing the revenues of Spanish clubs. According to the analysis, 13 teams’ earnings decreased from the previous season before the epidemic, the 2018-19 season.
According to this report, Villarreal and Real Betis had the largest proportional drop in revenue, with 26 and 20 percent drops, respectively. On the other hand, Barcelona and Real Madrid had the biggest losses worth €128.4 million and €62.5 million, respectively.
Moreover, broadcast earnings are by far the most significant source of finance for clubs in Spain, accounting for €1.24 billion or 42.5 percent of total revenue, while sponsorship accounts for 29.3 percent. However, the division’s top three teams, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid, skew the statistics by accounting for even more than 83 percent of the division’s sponsorship earnings.
Speaking during the Spanish news agency Europa Press’s Sports Breakfast programme in May, Tebas said: “The invasion of the new over-the-top platforms is bringing a decrease in income. That makes negotiations with companies such as Telefónica more complicated.”
Barcelona was believed to have acquired a €500 million loan from Goldman Sachs to restructure part of huge debt and relieve the burden caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. The Catalan club currently has €1.173 billion in debt, with €730 million of it due to be paid in the near future.
In the 2019-20 season, La Liga clubs earned €376.4 million from competing in European competitions, with the clubs that qualified for the Champions League and Europa League contributing more than 96% of that total.