According to Marca, in the past five seasons, if financial leverage is not used, Real Madrid will lose 337 million euros, while Barcelona will lose 580 million to 600 million euros.
First of all, although Barcelona is known for using financial leverage (which is neither a good nor a bad thing), Real Madrid is using it too. The difference is that Real Madrid's financial strength is much stronger than Barcelona, mainly because of its accumulated net assets. As of June 30, 2024, Real Madrid had a net worth of positive €598 million, while Barcelona had a negative €94 million.
Net assets are an indicator to measure the economic health of an enterprise, especially affected by profit and loss in recent years.
Real Madrid:
According to Real Madrid's own accounts and public statements, their net profit (after tax) totaled €65.5 million in the past five seasons (20/21 to 24/25).
2020/21 season: 900,000 euros
2021/22 season: 12.9 million euros
2022/23 season: 11.8 million euros
2023/24 season: 15.6 million euros
2024/25 season: 24.3 million euros
In these five seasons, Real Madrid announced the following important advance income operations:
1. Selling shares in some of the new business of the Bernabeu Stadium (the term "new" is important because it does not include existing revenue).
2. In the 2023/24 season, the VIP box seating license will be sold in advance and 75 million euros will be obtained.
3. In the 2024/25 season, income was also obtained through the early sale of VIP seat licenses. Although the specific amount has not been announced, it is estimated to be about 60 million euros.
4. Participated in the Club World Cup, earning approximately 84 million euros.
Barcelona:
Barcelona, by comparison, has performed very poorly in the past five seasons. If financial leverage is not calculated, they will suffer greater losses. From the 20/21 season to the 24/25 season, Barcelona has earned a total of 717 million euros through financial leverage.
2022/23 and 23/24 seasons: By selling 25% of the television broadcast rights, 667 million euros were obtained (of which only 517 million euros were included in La Liga).
2023/24 season: By selling 49% of Barcelona Studios, they received 200 million euros (actually only received 50 million euros).
Barcelona's after-tax profit in these five seasons is as follows:
2020/21 season: -481 million euros
2021/22 season: +98 million euros
2022/23 season: +304 million euros
2023/24 season: -91 million euros
2024/25 season: The data has not been released yet. If the data entered the 24/25 season, Barcelona's total loss in the past four seasons is 170 million euros. But considering that they have sold their television rights for the next 25 years, they will lose about €40 million per year, and the total loss will reach €617 million. If it is added to the fictional revenue of Barcelona studios, the total loss will further increase to 773 million euros.