In contrast to their stuttering form on the pitch, Bayern’s finances remain rock solid and have arguably never been stronger, as can be seen by a look at their latest published accounts for the 2022/23 season.
Bayern’s CFO Michael Diederich described 2022/23 as “a
challenging year”, but the club still managed to more than triple pre-tax
profit from €17.1m to €54.5m, as recurring revenue rose €90m (14%) from €654m
to a club record €744m and profit from player sales shot up from just €7m to
€104m. This was partially offset by
sizeable growth in operating expenses, which climbed €153m (24%) from €642m to
€795m.
Bayern’s €54m pre-tax profit was the best in the Bundesliga
in 2022/23, almost twice as much as the closest challenger, Freiburg €28m.
Bayern’s €54.5m pre-tax profit in 2022/23 was their largest
for four years, underlining the club’s full recovery from the pandemic. Diederich emphasised the club's financial
strategy, “Our mantra is always that, despite all sporting success, we only
spend what we earn ourselves.” As a
result, the Bavarians have now been profitable for an amazing 31 years in a
row, generating an admirable €393m pre-tax profit in the last 10 years.
Looking at the financials for the top 20 European clubs over
the last five years, you can see what the Bayern President means, as their
€169m pre-tax profit was comfortably the best performance here.
Player sales
Diederich noted that Bayern’s bottom line benefited from a
“high transfer surplus”, as profit from player sales was up from just €7m to
€104m, including the big money transfer of prolific forward Robert Lewandowski
to Barcelona.
This was much higher than Bayern have traditionally made
from player trading and was actually the second highest of elite clubs, i.e.
the top 20 in the Deloitte Money League, only surpassed by Manchester City’s
€140m.
Bayern have become increasingly reliant on player trading to
reinforce their financial strength, e.g. the €104m profit they made in 2022/23
was more than the previous three seasons combined. The 2023/24 gain will also be sizeable, so
this represents a real shift in approach. Last season’s sales included Lucas
Hernandez to PSG, Ryan Gravenberch to Liverpool, Sadio Mané to Al-Nassr, Marcel
Sabitzer to Borussia Dortmund, plus Benjamin Pavard and Yann Sommer to Inter.
As a result of the greater focus on this area, Bayern’s
€225m profit from player sales in the last five years was much more than the
€148m in the preceding 5-year period, despite the transfer market being
deflated by COVID in this period.
Bayern’s €744m ongoing revenue was a new club record,
overtaking the previous pre-pandemic peak of €660m in 2018/19. Broadcasting was
slightly lower, but there was good growth in match day (up €29m) and
particularly commercial (up €63m). Even after
their spectacular revenue growth, Bayern were still almost €100m below Real
Madrid €831m and City €826m.
There is no doubt that commercial operations are extremely
important to Bayern, as this accounts for 56% of their revenue. Again, this is
the highest of the leading clubs, a fair bit above everyone else. In fact,
there are only three other clubs where commercial’s share is more than 50%,
namely Barcelona 51%, Juventus 50% and PSG 50%.
Bayern have been boosted by strategic partnerships with major
German companies that have a stake in the club.
In this way, three of the clubs most important sponsors are also among
their shareholders, namely Adidas, Allianz and Audi, who pay the club a total
of €123m a year.
Given the relatively low TV money domestically, the
Champions League is a very important part of Bayern’s business model. In
2022/23 they earned €108m after reaching the quarter-finals, which was around
the same level as the previous season, when they also got to the last eight. Bayern earned more than half a billion Euros
from the Champions League in the five years up to 2023, which is good going by
any standards.
Bayern’s wage bill rose €67m (19%) from €349m to €416m,
which easily surpassed the previous high of €373m two years ago. The club said
that this included the cost of the change of coach from Nagelsmann to Tuchel. This means that wages have shot up by more
than €100m (32%) in just five years. Bayern’s
€416m wages are significantly higher than every other club in the Bundesliga,
which helps explain their multi-year domination, as they enjoy a major
competitive advantage.
The club has not received any funding from its owners since
a €110m capital injection in 2013/14. This is in stark contrast to many elite
clubs, who have been far more reliant on their own
On the pitch, after Leverkusen’s surprising triumph last
season and Dortmund’s near miss the year before, it’s no longer such plain
sailing for Bayern in the Bundesliga. Therefore,
some supporters might prefer the board to dip into the club’s enormous cash
reserves, so that last season will only be remembered as a blip, as opposed to
a sign of something potentially more troubling.
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