Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA generated total gross consolidated revenue of €456.9 million in the 2021/22 financial year.
Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA generated total gross consolidated revenue of €456.9 million in the 2021/22 financial year. This represents an increase of 27 percent over the previous year (€358.6 million). The consolidated result shows a deficit of €35 million, which represents half the amount of the previous year (€ 72.8 million).
“We are returning to our old strength in terms of revenue. The gross consolidated performance is pretty close to the last financial year before Covid,” said chief executive officer Hans-Joachim Watzke, adding: “This translates to an increase in earnings of around 40 million euros.” The deficit of 35-million euros is around nine-million euros higher than forecast, due to a short-term book value adjustment in player assets.
The biggest cause for financial losses continued to be the restrictions on spectator capacity imposed as part of the measures to contain the Coronavirus pandemic. While the occupancy level at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK in the last full Bundesliga season before the outbreak of the pandemic in the 2018/19 season was 99.3 percent (an average attendance of 80,820 for Bundesliga home games), only four of the 17 Bundesliga home games in the 2021/22 financial year were allowed to take place at full capacity. The number of spectators admitted ranged between 500 and 81,365. 41,800 tickets were sold on average, which corresponds to an occupancy rate of 51.4 percent and thus around half of the maximum ticketing and catering revenue that can be generated. Taking the UEFA Champions League into account, the figure was only 40 percent. Nevertheless, Watzke spoke of a “slight recovery effect”. The transfer business also continued to suffer from the consequences of the pandemic. “The transfer market is not what it was before Covid,” noted managing director Thomas Tress.
In addition, Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA – as well as all other 17 clubs in the Bundesliga – had to contend with a decline in TV revenues. The current TV contract was signed in June 2020, and thus in the midst of the first wave of the pandemic. Watzke spoke of “a 19.3 million euro reduction in TV money, due to the increasing costs of contract performance”.
2021/22 was the third financial year to be negatively affected by the Covid pandemic. And yet Borussia Dortmund are still not burdened by any financial liabilities to credit institutions. “We have 280 million euros in equity. Our situation is good,” stressed Watzke. Managing director Thomas Tress was also keen to point out that: “We are fortunate to have zero financial liabilities. We were able to completely repay the current account of just under 57 million with funds from the capital increase.” This places Borussia Dortmund among the most financially healthy football clubs in Europe. “Sponsorship is running at full speed. We will be able to report record figures this financial year, and we hope to be back in the black by 2023/24 at the latest and create the conditions for us to be able to pay dividends again,” announced Hans-Joachim Watzke.
Boris Rupert
