Spain’s professional soccer clubs suffered losses of €892 million during the 2020-21 season as the COVID-19 pandemic Covid-19 wreaked havoc on ticket sales and player transactions, LaLiga announced on Tuesday.
It is the first time since 2012 that the Spanish league has suffered losses, although the organization hopes to fully recover in two seasons. LaLiga reported in a statement that it expects the 2021-22 season to be the start of the recovery.
Spanish clubs recorded a total revenue of 3.8 billion euros during the 2020-21 season, a figure 24.1% lower than the previous one, which was also affected, but to a lesser extent, by the pandemic.
Half of the drop in revenue was due to a massive drop in player transfers. Spanish clubs only spent €547m on players in the 2020-21 season, compared to €1.533m the previous season.
Barcelona’s financial woes alone accounted for 56% of the league’s pre-tax net loss, according to a source close to the situation and documents seen by Reuters.
Goldman Sachs, which had agreed to lend 595 million euros to help restructure the club’s debt in August, will finance the stadium’s renovation under a 35-year plan, including an initial five-year grace period.
Barcelona is one of five clubs from the top two divisions that have opted out of the €1.994m deal signed by LaLiga with venture capital giant CVC Capital Partners in December, the first investment deal of its kind. in a European league.
The deal, dubbed “LaLiga Boost”, gives CVC an 8.2% stake in a new company that will earn broadcasting revenue and sponsorship rights for 50 years.
It commits the clubs to allocate 70% of the funds to investment in new infrastructure projects, while 15% can be used to sign players and the remaining 15% to reduce debt.
CVC is relying on Goldman Sachs to partially finance the deal, offering €850 million in notes due 2029 to back the investment, according to a document seen by Reuters.
“All these results were known to CVC before signing the agreement with La Liga and they have finalized it due to the confidence that the management of La Liga generates in them for the coming years,” a LaLiga source told Reuters.