“Atlético de Madrid is the second LaLiga club to which Covid-19 has left a bigger hole in their accounts”. Thus, with this phrase, begins ‘2Playbook’, the business platform for the sports industry, information, also collected by ‘Goal Spain’, in which it figures in 111.6 million euros Atlético de Madrid’s losses in 2020-21. An amount that, however, must be read with an asterisk since it belongs to the losses of the consolidated accounts of the entire group, also including other teams such as those in Mexico or Canada. In Atlético’s individual accounts they are 30 million less, 86. Losses conditioned by staff spending, 17% higher than the previous season, in which “the gap” was only 1.7 million, as specified by ‘2Playbook’, which has had “access to the annual accounts “. Some accounts that are the photo prior to June 30, 2021 and do not reflect the capital increase of 181.8 million that was made, in large part, to face the crisis caused by the pandemic.
And it is that the COVID-19 blow made a dent in the accounts of Atlético, the second most affected club in LaLiga. The collection by members and subscribers fell one tenth (4.13 million). In competitions (box office, income from tours and UEFA payments) it entered 14.3% (received 85.85 million). “The truth is that, despite playing behind closed doors due to the pandemic, the turnover only decreased by 1.6%, to 339.29 million euros“, details ‘2Playbook’. Meanwhile, for television rights it received 23.7% more (153.2 million) and in sponsorships, stores and the rest of commercial businesses, 23.3% more (95.9 million) .
Television rights contributed 23.7% more, to 153.2 million euros, while sponsorships, stores and the rest of commercial businesses gave it 95.9 million euros, 23.3% more. “The rest of operating income, which also includes paid assignments, gave him 23.5 million, 51% more. Traditionally, Atleti completed its budget with capital gains from transfers, but its projections were not met. Among the scarcity of offers or downward proposals, together with the vocation to retain talent, net income from the sale of players and other assets decreased by a quarter compared to 2019-2020, going from 128.44 million – that includes the sale of the Vicente Calderón – to only 28.48 million euros, “the publication states.
236.3 million in salaries
The retention of players and the drought of the transfer market conditioned the results. The club increased investment in salaries, while amortizations fell. Investment in staff increased, with 17.7% more in salaries (266.3 million) than in the previous year, “when there was an agreement with the footballers to temporarily reduce their salaries. To that we must add a little more than 20 million in collective bonuses for winning LaLiga. Sports salaries accounted for 236.3 million, an increase of 17% year-on-year “. “The depreciation of fixed assets fell 3.5% due to the lower investment in transfers, while the rest of the operating expenses were canceled with a similar increase in costs, to 75.5 million euros. Finally, supplies were cut almost in half, to 10.81 million“, also highlights ‘2Playbook’.