By Alexander Krassimirov
June 16 – Clubs from Bulgaria’s elite A group recorded cumulative financial losses amounting to BGN60 million (€30 million) over the past two seasons. The figures were calculated from documents provided by the clubs to the Bulgarian Football Union’s club licensing committee.
The numbers are not surprising given the plight of the clubs that have failed to meet payments to creditors, players and officials. The situation is not exceptional for leagues that don’t have fat TV contracts or substantial revenue from sponsors.
The 10 clubs that form the backbone of group A in these two campaigns and have not relegated from the top leauge, have generated a total revenue of BGN128 million (€64 million). But their costs over this period amounted to BGN188 million (€94 million), resulting in a loss of BGN60 million (€30 million).
The main income for clubs comes from their participation in the European club tournaments, where the contribution of the Bulgarian participant in the Champions League Ludogorets is huge – more than BGN 30 million (€15 million) for the two years.
Television rights add another few million and player transfers are also significant in the period – Litex sold players totaling over BGN6 million (€3 million). The remaining revenues come advertising contracts, ticket sales and merchandising – all of which remain relatively low in Bulgaria.
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