As every year for two decades now, the national management control department, the French football accountant, publishes the accounts of professional clubs in detail. This gives a precise idea of the economic health of the clubs and to be able to observe the major developments. The least we can say is that the covid has greatly altered the situation.
In total, for the year 2020-2021 (the DNCG always publishes its report with a season lag), the losses accumulate to 685 million euros for all the 40 professional clubs in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 , an increase of 155% compared to 2019-2020. Covid has been there.
While growth has been sustained and constant for years, this is the first time that clubs have lost so much. Certainly, since 2016, the results were in deficit, but up to 25 million euros on average. For 2 years now, the losses have exceeded 400 million euros and have reached very worrying amounts. Almost all strata are affected, but the most significant drop is to be put on the ticketing side, with a drop of 94%, from 186 million in total revenue in 2019-2020 to 11 million a year later. Remember all the same that the closed doors had been imposed from September 2020 and had lasted all year while the season before, the championship had stopped at the 27th, from the start of the pandemic.
Another consequence of covid19 is marketing and advertising revenue. With games behind closed doors and media failures, some partners pulled out of the market and caused a drop in sponsorship. In one year, it fell by 6%, from 509 to 481 million euros in revenue.
Faced with this, 3 of the 5 items of operating expenses experienced an increase despite the crisis. Remuneration increased by 10%, social charges by 18% and transfer allowances (the payment of staggered transfers, in other words, transfers prior to 2020 but whose price had been staggered over several seasons) by 10%. That is a 4% increase in operating expenses between the two seasons, from 2.9 billion euros to 3.1 billion euros. The crisis therefore reinforced the losses without sustaining the gains.
In detail, Ligue 1 clubs recorded a net loss of 645 million euros, a deficit up 140% over one year. As for the Ligue 2 clubs, it is historic and catastrophic at the same time, since in 2019-2020, they had a surplus result of 555,000 euros against a deficit of 39 million euros in 2020-2021, an increase of … 7,112%. The second division residents have really suffered and we have missed some bankruptcies. It’s a miracle not to have had one.
In Ligue 1, we could also argue that this record, less catastrophic, would not have been the same without the presence of Paris Saint-Germain. It is the tree which hides the forest and which makes it possible to stabilize the finances, to attenuate the losses. The capital club, despite the crisis, retained its TV rights in the European Cup and, thanks to its presence in the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2020-2021, was able to collect more than 146 million euros, via UEFA, compared to only 50 million euros for Ligue 1 TV rights. , despite the bankruptcy, last season, of the Téléfoot channel, and the deflation of the value of the rights, with the arrival of the broadcaster Amazon. Paris alone represents 24,
But with or without Paris, the closed doors considerably altered ticketing revenue, by 95%, from 169 million euros, in 2019-2020, which was already a special year, to 7 million euros. Opposite, social charges have nevertheless increased, by 23%. Because the clubs had obtained, during the Covid support plan, exemptions and public aid, it was necessary to compensate the following season. Ditto for salaries and staff compensation, an increase of 9%, with a total payroll of 1.2 billion euros in Ligue 1, including 934 million for professional players alone.
It remains to be seen whether this will last and whether the clubs will be able to solve their losses and ensure their accounts. The future is not the most reassuring. We will have to play tight and manage to strengthen revenues while reducing the weight of expenses, without this altering sporting stability. Let’s put it simply, French football clubs have lost a lot since the crisis, but have not fallen, they have come close to bankruptcy but have not disappeared. Nevertheless, it will take very little for this to happen and for institutions to perish.
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