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By Anthony Nlebem.
Italian football has long-term structural problems and has yet to fully recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the annual study of football finance published by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).
The annual ReportCalcio, produced by the FIGC with the AREL research agency and PwC Italia, notes that Italian professional clubs in Serie A, Serie B and Serie C recorded aggregate losses of €1.4bn ($1.54bn) for the 2021/22 season, up from €1.3bn in the previous year.
“In the last edition of the ReportCalcio we commented on the aggregate loss of €1.3bn for the season 2020/21, pointing out how that result was strongly impacted by the pandemic period,” Federico Mussi of PwC said. “However, the aggregate loss of the season 2021-22 was even higher and was the worst net result in the 15 years analysed in the ReportCalcio, confirming the degree to which the industry continues to show structural weakness.”
In the three seasons from 2019/20 to 2021/22, the total loss produced by Italian professional football has amounted to almost €3.6bn, with 82.6 per cent of professional clubs – 218 out of 264 analysed – closing their balance sheet at a loss.
Total revenues have not yet returned to the pre-pandemic figure of €3.9bn recorded in 2018/19, with the 2021/22 figure of €3.43bn down from €3.61bn in 2020/21.
Broadcast revenues now account for 37 per cent of total income, compared to 48 per cent in 2020/21, with sponsorship stable at 21 per cent (20 per cent in 2020/21). Gate receipts accounted for 7 per cent (0 per cent in 2020/21) with player sales taking up 13 per cent (up from 11 per cent).
Ticketing revenues have not recovered from the pre-pandemic figures of €341m in 2018/19 and €266m in 2019/20. After dropping to €28m in 2020/21, clubs recovered to bank €254m from ticketing in 2021/22. The report estimated that the number of potential spectators lost due to Covid-19 restrictions at over 29 million, with approximately €632m of unrealised potential ticketing revenue.
The cost of salaries continues to weigh heavily on club accounts, with staff costs accounting for 84 per cent of revenues in 2021/22.
Commenting on the report, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina said: “The need to bring the system back into balance is evident, putting costs under control and allocating resources for investments in nurseries and infrastructures.”
In 2022, Gravina claimed there was an “urgent need” to start a sustainable development programme for the domestic football system after Covid-19 exposed its financial fragility.
The report also noted the ability of Italian football to attract foreign investment, with 19 entities from abroad investing in Italian professional football, including 11 from the United States. The resources of foreign owners have supported Italian football in recent years: between 2011 and 2022, recapitalisation interventions worth over €6.2bn were made, of which 37 per cent related to clubs with Italian owners and 63 per cent (€3.9bn) from companies with foreign shareholders, mainly from the US and China.
Last week, European governing body Uefa announced that the FIGC had submitted a joint bid, with Turkey, to co-host Euro 2032, following concerns that Italy would not be able to refurbish stadiums in time to stage the tournament.
The report notes that in the last 16 years (2007-2022) a total of 199 new stadium facilities have been built across Europe, with an investment of €22.3bn. The nations with the most new stadiums are Poland and Turkey (over 30 each), ahead of Germany (18) and Russia (16). Italy built five new stadiums in this period: Juventus, Udinese, Frosinone, Albinoleffe and Südtirol.
The growth of Italian women’s football was also noted by the report, with more than 36,000 FIGC-registered female members, an increase of 94 per cent compared to 2008. Annual revenues from women’s games now stand at €6.6m and are forecast to reach €47m by 2033.
Barcelona has announced the sale of a 29.5-per-cent shares in its digital business Barça Vision to German-based Libero Football Finance and Dutch investment firm Nipa Capital in a deal that will raise €120m ($132m) ahead of the new LaLiga season.
The deal is effectively a resale of part of the stake sold to Socios.com and Orpheus Media in July and August last year, which raised €200m and allowed the club to register players ahead of the 2022-23 season. The deals were described by the club as ‘palancas’ (or ‘levers’) open to Barcelona’s directors to clear debts, estimated in 2021 to be €1.35bn and meet LaLiga’s strict financial rules.
Socios and Orpheus will retain a reduced stake in Barça Vision of around 17 per cent each.
The new €120m payment maintains the valuation of the in-house production operation Barça Vision, previously known as Barça Studios, at €407m.
The club plans to float the business in the United States after announcing an agreement with Mountain & Co, a Swiss venture capital firm, to create a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to raise further capital.
In a statement, the club said it planned to merge Barça Vision and audiovisual content units under the brand ‘Barça Media’.
“The agreement will allow Barça Media to access additional financing through the US capital markets and will accelerate the Club’s initiatives across digital and audiovisual sectors and strengthen its ability to distribute Barça Media’s content to new audiences in strategic markets around the globe,” the club statement said.
“Barcelona expects Barça Media to become a significant source of income for the Club [with] a pro-forma enterprise value of approximately $1bn [€911m].”
Socios and Orpheus made initial payments of €10m each last summer and were due to each make three further payments of €30m. The first of the three payments was due to be paid on June 15 this year but the COPE radio station in Spain reported that both partners requested a postponement of the payments until the end of the year.
The deal struck with Libero and Nipa will now generate funds to allow Barcelona to register new signings ahead of the 2023-24 league season, which starts this weekend.
Spanish website 2Playbook has reported that in a revised payment schedule, the €120m injection from Libero and Nipa effectively replaces the €60m payment due to be paid by Orpheus and Socios on June 15 and a further €60m planned for June 15, 2024. Under the original schedule, a final €60m was planned to be collected from Orpheus and Socios on June 15, 2025.
A source said, “Discussions with new partners kicked off in January – hence why Barça Vision partners agreed to postpone payments for this year until the negotiations were closed –ruling out failed or delayed payments as some media have reported.”