Madrid's milestone, Barça's decline

The financial health of Spanish clubs is fairly strong, according to UEFA’s annual report on the state of investment and finances across Europe’s football clubs. Spanish clubs recorded a combined $3.9 billion in revenue, the second-highest total behind England and slightly ahead of Germany.

Special attention is deserved by Real Madrid, which achieved the historic feat of becoming the first sports club — across any discipline — to record the highest revenue of all clubs in 2024, with $1.15 billion. Barcelona ranked sixth with $820 million, while Atlético came in 12th with revenue of around $438 million. In fact, Atlético’s revenue in 2024 is almost identical to the figure first reported by UEFA for Real Madrid when the governing body began publishing these numbers back in 2009.

Following Madrid in the revenue rankings are Manchester City ($916 million), Paris Saint-Germain ($867 million), Manchester United ($827 million), and Bayern Munich ($820 million).

Barcelona is experiencing a significant downturn, as it is — alongside Juventus — one of only two clubs among Europe’s top 20 to report a decline in revenue for 2024. The 6% drop is largely tied to the ongoing renovation of Spotify Camp Nou, a project that has also hit the club’s matchday income. Barcelona has fallen to seventh place in Europe for matchday revenue, bringing in $125 million, with average matchday income declining to $5.2 million per game. However, the average matchday spend per fan remained the second highest among European clubs in 2024, at $127 per visit. In this area, UEFA singles out Real Madrid, which stands head and shoulders above all clubs, generating $202 million in matchday revenue with average matchday earnings of $8.1 million at the Santiago Bernabéu.

The top five matchday earners were:Madrid ($202 million), PSG ($183 million), Arsenal ($167 million), Bayern ($143 million), and Manchester United ($141 million).

UEFA’s report paints a glowing picture of LaLiga, with Spain also ranking second among leagues for total matchday revenue, bringing in $634 million, behind the Premier League’s $1.09 billion, but ahead of the Bundesliga’s $567 million. The matchday revenue generated by Spain’s biggest clubs ensures LaLiga has the second-highest average and total matchday revenue, though it ranks only fourth for average matchday income per club.

The sharp rise in inflation affecting coaching and administrative staff wages pushed total salary expenditure across Europe to $19.7 billion in 2023, with a further 6.5% increase in 2024. Real Madrid recorded the third-highest wage billwith $553 million, followed closely by Barcelona in fourth with $521 million, and Atlético in 12th with $294 million. PSG tops the list, spending $721 million on wages, with Manchester City close behind on $607 million.

Barcelona’s 2024 wage bill represents a staggering $179 million drop compared to its record $700 million wage bill in 2023 — the largest year-on-year decline ever reported by a club. This reflects cost-saving measures through squad restructuring and the exceptional nature of the 2023 wage bill, which had included Covid-delayed pay increases and significant performance bonuses.

Under UEFA’s new salary cost regulations, the more than 700 clubs in Europe’s top divisions reported $14.4 billionin player wages in 2023 — demonstrating healthy moderation, with player salaries rising just 3% compared to the previous year. Barcelona’s dramatic reduction in wages contributed to a 2% decline in player salaries across all LaLiga clubs in 2023.

Continuing this trend, Barcelona currently employs the largest staff of any European club, with 1,781 full-time employees, nearly 300 more than in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. Real Madrid ranks fourth in this regard, with 1,163 employees, and Atlético ranks tenth with 964 employees.

Premier League dominance in TV rights

Altogether, the 700+ top-division clubs in Europe reported $8.9 billion in domestic broadcast revenue in 2023. Of this, Spanish clubs brought in just over $1.5 billion, the second-highest total in Europe, but still far behind the $3.5 billion generated by English clubs — a gap expected to widen further in 2026, when the Premier League’s domestic rights will increase by 17%. Spanish clubs are expected to hold onto second place, however, with gradual revenue growth throughout the current five-year cycle, while TV income remains essentially flat in Germany and is projected to decline in Italy and France.

With slower increases in TV revenue, commercial income — including sponsorship — is becoming an increasingly vital driver of club revenue growth. Barcelona and Real Madrid both ranked among the top five clubs for commercial revenue, with Real Madrid leading the table on $496 million, and Barcelona in fourth with $414 million. Atlético ranked 18th, bringing in $117 million. UEFA’s report marks 15 years of tracking club revenue growth, comparing data from 2009 to 2014 and from 2019 to 2024. In this period, all three Spanish giants have more than tripled their commercial revenue.

In total, the 700+ top-division clubs across Europe reported $9.9 billion in non-wage operating costs (OPEX) in 2023 — a sharp 15% year-on-year increase, a growth rate that outpaced even record revenue growth. OPEX accounted for 33% of total club revenue in 2023, and with a further 12% rise reported so far in 2024, UEFA warns that this trend may not simply be a temporary post-pandemic spike.

Real Madrid reported the highest OPEX of any club, reaching $477 million, a remarkable 60% more than the next highest club, Tottenham Hotspur.

Real Madrid’s dominance in financial metrics is further underlined by its position at the top of UEFA’s overall revenue ranking, with $155 million in UEFA competition prize money in 2024 — seven times the club’s UEFA earnings in 2009 — thanks to its Champions League triumph. Manchester City earned $134 million, while PSG and Bayern each collected $133 million from UEFA competitions. Meanwhile, Barcelona earned $112 million, and Atlético reported $104 million.

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