May 10 – LaLiga’s aggressive international expansion and the smart player trading of its clubs has seen combined club revenues hit a record €4.479 billion for the 2017/18 season, a growth of 20.6% over the previous year.
“This is the largest positive annual change in recent years and particularly notable given that it has occurred following several financial years in which LaLiga has been consistently posting double-digit growth rates. The results fall at the midway point of the three-year audiovisual cycle for the national market, so are not affected by any sudden increase in revenues,” said LaLiga in a press release.
LaLiga also recorded record profit with gross operating profit at €945 million, operating profit at €325 million and the net profit for the year at €189 million.
Increase in commercial revenue (excluding advertising) was 34.1%, to €838 million, indictating the growth in brand strength of the Spanish clubs and their attractiveness to sponsor.
It is in player transfers where LaLiga’s clubs really scored with sales of €1.018 billion, a massive 104.3% growth.
Meanwhile, in the case of revenue from player transfers (i.e. sale price), the annual increase of 104.3% allowed turnover in this section to double in a single year. The entry of €1.018bn is symptomatic of the significant capacity held by Spanish clubs and SADs for creating sporting value.
Broadcast revenue received by the clubs topped €1.5 billion for the first time and will increase from the 2019/20 season when the new Spanish and international broadcast deals for the next three-year cycle begin.
LaLiga points to the contribution it makes to the Spanish economy as a whole, saying: “Overall, LaLiga’s clubs create a professional football industry which produces an impact on national GDP equivalent to 1.37% and which directly or indirectly employs around 185,000 people (0.98% of average employed population in Spain over the past year). To this can be added the more than €4 billion that LaLiga contributes to the state coffers in the form of taxes.”
LaLiga spends about 2% of its turnover on corporate social responsibility projects.
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