‘Palco23’ report: which clubs will be able to get around the readjustments?

Palco23, a digital benchmark in the world of football business, has produced an important report in which the situations of the First and Second clubs in Spain are analyzed and in which they study how they could face the salary adjustments that are being debated these days to face the coronavirus crisis and the effects it will have on football. The research is emphatic: “The evolution of the business in the last five years reveals the clear correlation of television money to the payment of wages, but the budgets reveal that there are clubs that could sustain their wage bill, while for others it is basic for survive. ” Atlético, Barça or Lugo have already slipped their thoughts on the ERTE while other clubs such as Real Madrid, Athleth, Eibar or Valencia have said that they will not request it.

Box 23 opens its information with a reality that we have been counting these weeks of league break in AS: “Fear of seeing who throws the first stone.” The report, very exhaustive, indicates that “any increase in the audiovisual invoice has been transferred to the weight of the payrolls of footballers; both represent 51% of the total.” And he adds: “Along with television, the other great source of income that has been nipped in the bud with the Covid-19 crisis is ticketing. Together, these two items have always served to cover total spending on wages. “

The report reveals a paradox: “The clubs with the highest income diversification are the ones that may end up suffering the most. Those who depend more than 75% on television know that their budget will hardly change if the entire competition ends up being played, even if it ends in July. On the other hand, Barça and Madrid, for example, gamble a lot of money on merchandising and the stadium's own box office, both linked to matches and museum visits. “This explains that the reality of each club is very different and that, therefore, it is very difficult to reach general solutions as intended.

The differences between clubs

Box 23 ensures that “The whole of LaLiga Santander expected to conclude the current year with an aggregate net profit of 185 million, being those with the most margin Real Madrid (38.4 million), Atlético de Madrid (29.1 million), Espanyol de Barcelona (20.5 million) and RCD Mallorca (17.5 million) “.

“Those who have not reached the transfer goal in the summer of 2019 and the winter of 2020 have a serious problem; or cut payroll spending, or the red numbers will be inevitable, “says one of the many sources consulted by Box 23 in his report, he remembers that “The latest LaLiga economic report confirms that the determining factor that has made this increase in the wage bill possible has been the sale of footballers.”