Those of us who have been enjoying the Winter Olympics sense that they have generally well organized, leaving aside problems with disintegrating medals. Italy can do things with style and panache, reflected n its world beating success in luxury goods sectors, but its football clubs are something of a basket case. Serie A is no longer looked to as the epitome of football style.
From his Zurich lair, the Swiss Ramble takes a forensic look at the 2024/25 accounts of AS Roma. Here are some highlights.
This was Roma’s fifth season under the ownership of The
Friedkin Group, who purchased the club from fellow American James Pallotta in
August 2020.
In this period, there has been a fair degree of change at
Roma, including no fewer than six head coaches. Despite all this upheaval, Roma have been
fairly consistent in in the league, finishing between 5th and 7th in each of
the last seven seasons. That’s not too bad, but it does represent a decline in
performance, as Roma had finished between 2nd and 3rd in the preceding five
seasons.
Importantly, this means that Roma have missed out on
qualifying for the lucrative Champions League in recent years, which has placed
a strain on their finances.
Roma’s pre-tax loss significantly reduced by €27m from €76m
to €49m, which is the third year in a row that the bottom line has improved,
but still represents a sizeable deficit. The much lower losses were needed to
comply with the FFP settlement agreement signed with UEFA.
Revenue fell €27m (10%) from €254m to €227m, though this was
more than offset by a big reduction in operating expenses, which were cut €61m
(17%) from €363m to €302m. Net interest payable increased from €11m to €13m.
All three of Roma’s main revenue streams were lower.
Broadcasting dropped €14m (13%) from €104m to €90m, while match day fell €11m
(20%) from €55m to €44m and commercial was down €6m (6%) from €93m to €87m.
Roma’s efforts to get control of their cost base were
evident in the steep reduction in wages, which were slashed by €49m (24%) from
€202m to €153m. In addition, other expanse were cut €20m (17%) from €117m to
€97m.
Roma’s profit on player sales slightly increased from €24m
to €27m, made up of a €30m gain and a €3m loss. This largely came from two
sales to Saudi clubs, Houssem Aouar to Al-Ittihad €11m and Joao Costa to
Al-Ettifaq €8m, as well as Nicola Zalewski to Inter €6m and Samuel Dahl to
Benfica €5m. Many Italian clubs focus on
player trading, so eight of them generated more than twice as much as Roma last
season, led by Napoli €102m, Atalanta €101m, Juventus €90m, Bologna €77m and
Udinese €72m.
Roma are no strangers to losing money, as they have suffered
losses 16 years in a row, adding up to around €1.1 bln Euros. The last time
that they posted a pre-tax profit was way back in 2008/09 – and that was only
€3m. The good news is that last season’s
€49m loss was the club’s smallest since 2018/19, having fallen three years in a
row from the €219m annus horribilis in 2021/22.
Italian clubs have established an unwanted reputation for
suffering huge losses, so Roma are hardly alone in losing a lot of money. However, their €627m total loss in the last
five years is the second worst in Serie A, only surpassed by Juventus €826m,
while Inter €430m and especially Milan €116m did a fair bit better (relatively
speaking).
To highlight the financial might of the Premier League, they
were one place behind Bournemouth, which is not something that would have been
on the cards a few years ago. It is worth noting that Roma were ranked as high
as 9th back in 2007/08.
Roma earned €21m TV money for reaching the Europa League
last 16, However, the difference with
Italy’s representatives in the Champions League was substantial, especially
Inter, who received a hefty €137m for reaching the final. Roma’s earnings were
also only around a third of Atalanta, Juventus and Milan, even though the giallorossi
got one round further.
Roma have long sought a new stadium, as their match day
revenue has been on the low side compared to elite clubs, but their plans have
experienced numerous delays. The latest
project is in the Pietralta area with a planned capacity of 55,000 with the
possibility of extending this to 62,000 at a later date. The cost has increased
from €600m to €1 bln, mainly due to work requested by the local authorities.
Even after the reduction in the last two seasons, Roma’s
gross debt of €413m is still the highest in Italy, ahead of Inter €398m and
Juventus €339m. Only two other Italian clubs have more than €100m debt, namely
Genoa €143m and Milan €136m.
Owner funding
Roma have been very reliant on capital injections from the
Friedkins, including €82m in 2024/25, followed by another €50m since these
accounts, which took the Amercians’ funding to a hefty €837m since their
arrival.
If we the add the €200m they paid when acquiring the club
(including €111m to repay a loan from James Pallotta and €63m for their 86.6%
stake) plus €26m paid to smaller shareholders, their total investment to date
is well over a billion Euros.
The Friedkin Group has now also acquired Everton from Farhad
Moshiri, which raises the question of what the implications might be for Roma? There has to be a concern that the American
owners might focus their attention on the English club, given the structural
advantages of the Premier League. In addition, Everton has recently opened a
shiny new stadium, which is something that is still a vision in Rome.
The Friedkins have clearly worked hard in an attempt to
improve Roma’s finances, significantly reducing their losses in the last three
years, in order that they could (more or less) be in line with the FFP
settlement agreed with UEFA.
This has meant a difficult balancing act for the owners
whereby Roma have to spend enough to compete for a place in the Champions
League, while also staying within the restrictions imposed by UEFA.
Although they have done well in Europe by most standards,
winning the Conference League and also reaching the final of the Europa League,
the failure to qualify for the lucrative Champions League has hit them hard,
exacerbated by the relatively poor performance in player trading.
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