La Liga has reported its highest revenue since the pandemic, pushing through the €5bn barrier ($8.76bn AUD).
Across the 2023/24 season, La Liga recorded a total standardized revenue of €5.049bn ($8.84bn AUD), a 3.2% increase upon the 2022/23 season. However, the 23/24 season is still shy of the pre-pandemic 2019/20 season record revenue of €5.065bn ($8.87bn AUD).
Of La Liga’s revenue streams, broadcast income was the most influential – totaling $2.64bn AUD. The second largest source of revenue was commercial income, surpassing the organisation’s goal of over one billion euros for the second year in a row – totaling $2.25bn AUD. La Liga contributed its strong commercial growth to flourishing new sponsorships and licensing agreements, as well as the continuing popularity of the league overseas.
However, La Liga has credited the post-pandemic high total revenue due to the increase in matchday income from record attendances.
Throughout the 2023/24 season, 16 million fans lined stadium seats across Spain, contributing to an average stadium occupancy rate of 75.4%. An increase upon the previous season’s 72.5% average occupancy rate.
Due to this, matchday revenue grew 5% year-on-year to $1.25bn AUD in the 2023/24 season, culminating in a 25% increase over the past five seasons.
La Liga signified the effect of affordable ticket prices, stadium expansions and projects which improved facilities and amenities as crucial in inspiring more fans to come to games.
Furthermore, the league predicts that the 2024/25 season will welcome even more spectators, projecting 78% average occupancy across stadiums and nearly 18 million in attendance.
Among the clubs, members reduced their losses by approximately $493m AUD in 2023/24 from 2022/23, recording aggregate losses of $388m in 2023/24 and $881m in the prior season.
La Liga also projected that aggregate losses would fall even further in 2024/25, to $303m.
Interestingly, senior corporate net debt rose in 2023/24 to $2.34bn however, net equity remained healthy at $3.9bn – highlighting the stability of the league’s long-economic model, which continues to abide by Financial Fair Play.
Due to its positive year, continuing upwards revenue trends across matchday and commercial sectors and the successes of the Boost LaLiga strategy , La Liga projects that the organisation is on its way to breaking even under its Financial Fair Play criteria later in the year.
The Spanish competition’s record revenue raising 2023/24 season echoes that of the Bundesliga, announced earlier in the year.
Like LaLiga, the Bundesliga achieved soaring ticket sales, accruing 20.74 million tickets across the top two divisions of German football in 2023/24 – an increase of almost one million tickets from the 2022/23 season. These impressive results contribute to the Bundesliga’s highest average number of tickets sold, averaging 33,885 tickets per game.
Additionally, both clubs’ largest source of revenue was through media rights and broadcasting.
Such results from two of the big five European leagues could signify that football across the continent is in a healthy place after the COVID-19 pandemic and beginning to thrive once more.
However, until the remaining three big five leagues (Serie A, Ligue 1, EPL) and the majority of the continent’s competitions reveal their revenue reports for the 2023/24 season it is too early to determine if the trends are the same across the whole of Europe.
