FC Barcelona announces after-tax net profit of 304 million euros in 2022/23

The FC Barcelona Board of Directors can report that the 2022/23 financial year has closed with a net profit of 304 million euros after taxes, a result higher than that approved in last season’s budget. During the 2022/23 season, FC Barcelona achieved, on a consolidated level, operating income of 1.259 billion euros with operating expenses of 1.165 billion euros.

These results have been achieved in a season that will go down in history for the record operational figures in the commercial and venue operation sections. The club has made improvements in all lines of business, recording figures higher than expected in each of them.

On a commercial level, with revenue of 351 million euros (+43% compared to the previous year), the club has obtained all-time record figures. The Sponsorship area practically reached 200 million euros and sales at Barça Stores amounted to 100 million euros, also an absolute record.

Venue operations closed the 2022/23 academic year to June 30 with total revenue of €229 million, a figure 14% higher than budgeted and 8% more than what was recorded in the 2018/19 season, the last full season prior to Covid. The significant increase in turnover at Spotify Camp Nou is especially remarkable, with €121 million in income generated by the first season ever to see a million tickets sold to see the men’s first team, while there were also record gate takings for women’s football, bringing in 2.7 million euros and for basketball with 4.5 million euros (126% higher than the 2018/19 pre-pandemic season). The Barça Museum closed its last year in its traditional location with turnover of €39.9 million.

In the 2022/23 season, FC Barcelona generated a record number of new sponsorships, 20, which generated €97.6 million, including Spotify, Bimbo and Whitebit, as well as new deals with ScotiaBank and Stanley, among others. Especially relevant have been the €7.8 million generated by women’s football, an increase of 95% on the 2021/22 season. In the 2022/23 season, six other new sponsorships were signed for a value of €36 million that will count towards the 2023/24 season.

Barça Licensing & Merchandising (BLM) recorded a 54% increase in sales in physical stores compared to the previous year. As for e-commerce, the growth was 47% with spectacular gains in women’s clothing, where sales have risen by 275%. In the 2022/23 season, eight new points of sale were opened: four in Barcelona, one in Tarragona, one in Madrid and two new corners at El Corte Inglés department stores (María Cristina and Plaça Catalunya, both in Barcelona). As well as these directly managed stores, four new franchises have also opened their doors for the first time.

The Board of Directors would like to emphasise that Spotify Camp Nou was the stadium with the highest average attendance in Europe last season, according to the UEFA report titled The European Club Talent and Competition Landscape. This once again demonstrates the strength of the FC Barcelona brand, which continues to be a global benchmark for creating synergies and offering unique fan experiences.

Also, as was already announced and approved at the last General Assembly of Delegate Members, the club has registered the sale of 15% of LaLiga broadcasting rights for an amount of 400 million euros .

The Board’s overall assessment of the balance is positive, despite the intensification of measures to cut spending implemented since the beginning of the current mandate.

The Board stresses that the club’s net debt has been reduced for the second consecutive season, dropping from 680 million euros as of 30 June 2021 to the current 552 million euros as of 30 June 2023. This debt criterion is calculated following the methods established by the LFP, and mainly includes net banking and sports debts, reduced by the treasury. The Board also draws attention to the point that this debt calculation method does not include all the loans related to the financing of Espai Barça, which are part of a separate structure that is financed with the resources generated by the project. This reduction in net debt has consequently helped to reduce the club’s overall debt.

Turning to the budget for the 2023/24 season, the club projects revenue of 859 million euros and a profit of €11 million before taxes, framed within the Feasibility Plan approved by the Board of Directors. The club is convinced that it is doing things right, for it has ended the year with an overall profit despite the reduction in ordinary income from season and ordinary tickets as a result of the move to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. This season is going to require an additional effort from the club’s commercial areas, major containment of ordinary spending and should also entail a significant reduction in the payroll for professional athletes, while ensuring that they remain as competitive or more than they were before. The Board emphasises the excellent outcome from the summer transfer window, which has produced a very solid-looking men’s first team that, together with the support and commitments assumed by the Board of Directors itself through the presentation of personal guarantees, could all be registered as hoped to produce a squad that is already showing that it can compete strongly at the highest possible level.