Lens do the business on and off the pitch

RC Lens have qualified for the Champions League. There was much financial uncertainty under the former owner, Azerbaijani businessman Hafiz Mammadov, culminating in Lens not providing a sufficient bank guarantee in 2014. As a result, the French football authorities effectively cancelled that season’s promotion from Ligue 2, though the debate took a while to reach a conclusion, so this was only effected via a forced relegation at the end of 2014/15.

Things look a lot better for Lens under the current owner, Joseph Oughourlian, who bought the club in 2016, before becoming president in 2018. During his tenure, Lens first won promotion to Ligue 1 in 2020, then finished in an impressive 7th place in both their first two seasons back in the top flight, before securing a place in the lucrative Champions League.

That’s a notable achievement, but what is even more striking is that they have managed to do this without spending huge amounts, as can be seen by reviewing Lens’ financials.

In 2021/22 Lens swung from a €24m pre-tax loss to a €2m profit, the first time that the club had been in the black for six years. Revenue rose €14m (42%) from €33m to €47m, while profit from player sales shot up €23m from €2m to €25m.

Lens’ €2m profit was actually one of the better financial results in Ligue 1, though a fair way below the profits at Lille €23m, Brest €14m and Angers €10m.

The Lens bottom line was boosted by €25m profit from player sales, significantly higher than prior year’s €2m, which was mainly thanks to the transfer of Loic Badé to Rennes.

Lens have made a decent amount of money from player sales, though the €25m generated in 2021/22 was easily a club record. However, that is likely to be surpassed this season, largely due to the Doucouré deal with Crystal Palace, but also a fair number of other sales, which should add up to more than €50m.

Lens’ revenue has more than tripled since promotion two years ago from €15m to €47m. That’s already impressive, but there will be another step change next season after qualifying for UEFA’s premier tournament.   Broadcasting was the most important revenue stream with 44% of total revenue, followed by commercial 37% and gate receipts 20%.

Even after the recent growth, Lens’ €47m revenue was still in the lower half of Ligue 1. PSG’s €670m was around 14 times as much, while Marseille’s €238m was nearly €200m higher. Lyon €160m and Lille €148m were both over €100m more.   In short, Lens have massively outperformed, punching well above their weight.  To further place Lens’ revenue into perspective for English fans, their revenue was nearly €100m less than the club with the lowest revenue in the Premier League, namely Burnley €145m.

Lens’ wage bill rose €3.3m (10%) from €34.7m to €38.0m, the club’s highest for 11 years (since the €39.7m in 2011). This means that wages have nearly doubled since promotion from Ligue 2, up from €19.7m.

Lens total gross  transferspend over the last six years was still only €89m, which is around a tenth of PSG, whose €896m has not delivered such great value for money. Although the Parisians are a massive outlier, Lens have still been substantially outspent by their other rivals in this period: Monaco €610m, Rennes €363m, Marseille €342m, Lyon €323m, Lille €276m and Nice €275m.

Lens’ accomplishment in qualifying for the Champions League is to be applauded, especially as they achieved this in such fine style.  Doing this on a very low budget makes it even sweeter, though the hard work will continue, as Lens will no longer be a surprise package next season. They will also face the tricky challenge of hanging on to their talent, as bigger clubs look to flex their financial muscles.