When I was growing up in London after the second world war, I would have been surprised to be told that one day I would have a great-granddaughter who would be educated in Valencios (a dialect of Catalan). D.v. I will be going to see her in the procession at the Three Kings festival. Meanwhile, my interest in Spanish football increases but as a neutral.
The authoritative Swiss Ramble has undertaken his usual forensic analysis of the finances of FC Barcelona. Much more is available on his Substack page.
Despite the impressive increase in revenue, which rose €95m (10%) from €916m to a club record €1,011m, Barcelona actually reported a pre-tax loss of €14m in 2025/26, which was slightly worse than the prior year’s €8m deficit. This was due to a steep rise in operating expenses, which grew €111m (12%) from €900m to €1,011m, while net interest payable increased €13m (47%) from €26m to €39m. This was partly offset by an improvement in profit on player sales, which more than tripled from €12m to €39m.
Although much smaller than some of the substantial losses reported in recent years, Barcelona’s €14m pre-tax loss is still one of the highest in La Liga, though all of the comparatives are from 2024/25, as none of the other clubs have yet published accounts for last season.
Of course, Barcelona’s reported results have been heavily distorted by their famous financial levers. As it stands, Barcelona have made €832m from pulling these financial levers, split between TV rights €665m, Barça Vision €87m and Personal Seating Licences €80m.
This had the impact of reducing losses by €266m in 2021/22, €799m in 2022/23 and €5m in 2024/25, offset by the €225m impairment in 2023/24 and net €14m in 2025/26.
The inability to generate big money from transfers in recent years has hurt them financially, though the flip side is that some of the departures have helped reduce the wage bill, such as when Robert Lewandowski left on a free transfer this summer.
Barcelona climbed four places from 6th to 2nd in the 2024/25 Deloitte Money League, which ranks clubs globally by revenue. That’s obviously good news, but it’s worth noting they were top of the table as recently as 2019/20. That said, there is now clear water between the two Spanish giants and other elite European clubs, as the next highest were at least €100m lower, namely Bayern Munich €861m and Paris Saint-Germain €836m.
Barcelona’s €541m commercial revenue is now higher than Real Madrid’s latest published figures of €481m, though it is possible that this will change once their detailed accounts are available. This stream is a major reason for the large revenue disparity in Spain, as Atlético Madrid’s €116m is less than a quarter of the Big Two, while there is then another huge gap to the next highest clubs, namely Real Betis €37m, Sevilla €29m and Villarreal €29m.
Unsurprisingly, Barcelona are now among the best clubs in the world in terms of commercial operations, e.g. in 2024/25 they were only behind Real Madrid (based on the Deloitte Money League definition), but well ahead of Bayern Munich.
Barcelona only had the ninth highest broadcasting income in Europe in 2024/25. The strength of the Premier League TV deal was illustrated by their clubs filling three of the top four places, led by Manchester City’s €332m.
Barcelona’s financial recovery has been helped by better performances in Europe, where they have averaged €105m in TV money in the last three seasons, compared to €76m in the preceding 3-year period, when they twice failed to get out of their Champions League group. Barcelona have earned a very decent €458m from Europe in the last five years, though this was a long way below Real Madrid’s €598m. Atlético Madrid were not too far behind with €437m,
A good record in Europe will also help Barcelona’s chances of qualifying for the FIFA Club World Cup, where the expanded format means that big money is now available. Barça missed out last time round, as Spain’s representatives were Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, who earned $83m and $21m respectively.
Barcelona’s match day revenue increased by €42m (28%) from €150m to €192m, driven by the return to the Camp Nou in November 2025, after more than two years of playing home matches at the Olympic Stadium.
Barcelona’ Espai project, including the Camp Nou redevelopment, has been described by president Laporta as “the most important project in the club’s history, vital to maintain Barcelona’s leading position in world sport, and at the same time a pillar in the club’s financial recovery and future viability.” It was originally budgeted at €600m, but the cost then soared to €1.5 bln, before the estimate recently jumped another €300m to €1.8 bln.
_Football wages and transfers_
Football wages increased by €65m (14%) from €463m to €528m, mainly due to first team renewals, especially the big new contract awarded to Lamine Yamal, while a couple of loan deals were brought in on high wages, i.e. Marcus Rashford from Manchester United and Joao Cancelo from Al-Hilal. The massive wage bill in 2022/23 was clearly one of the main reasons for Barcelona’s financial issues, but they have fallen behind many of the European elite since then. In 2024/25 their €463m was a fair way below Paris Saint-Germain €544m and Liverpool €509m. However, next season’s budget includes a striking increase in wages, as these are forecast to increase by €68m (13%) to €596m, which Barcelona said was “to maintain maximum competitiveness at European level”. This would be a new club record, as would the €649m forecast for total staff.
The €476m gross spend in the last five years is less than half of the €1.2 bln outlay in the preceding 5-year period, which included the big money signings of Ousmane Dembélé, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann. The reduction in net spend was equally notable, as this dropped from €530m to €190m.
_Growing debt_
A major issue for Barcelona is the ever growing financial debt, which increased by another €389m last season from €1.451 bln to €1.840 bln, comprising €1.243 bln Espai Barça debt and €597m non-stadium debt (€503m bonds and €94m bank loans). According to the accounts, €148m is due to be repaid in the next 12 months with another €346m the following year, though it is possible that this will be refinanced before these due dates.
As recently as 2018, Barcelona’s financial debt was only €68m, but it is now the highest in Europe. The only other clubs that owe more than a billion Euros are Chelsea €1.7 bln, to fund their BlueCp “project”, Tottenham €1.0 bln, to finance their own stadium development, and Real Madrid.
Barcelona had managed to keep the annual interest payment down, but this shot up to a breathtaking €94m last season, as payments related to the Espai Barça financing structure began. As a result, Barcelona’s €94m interest payment is now comfortably the highest in Europe, more than twice as much as the next largest charges in 2024/25, i.e. Manchester United €40m, Real Madrid €37m,Tottenham Hotspur €35m and Inter €33m.
Unlike many other leading clubs, whose business model is reliant on benevolent shareholders, Barcelona do not benefit from owner funding, either in capital or loans.
The Swiss Ramble concludes: ‘On the plus side, Barcelona were once again profitable (excluding exceptional items), while they have managed to significantly grow their revenue, becoming only the second club in world football to break through the billion Euros barrier, even before the Camp Nou is finished.
On the other hand, the club has had to take on a huge amount of debt to finance the stadium development, leading to incredibly high interest payments and restricting the amount of money available to invest in the squad.
That said, the relative austerity does not appear to have impeded the club’s progress on the pitch, as Barcelona have won La Liga three times in the last four seasons, with the emergence of many talented youth products.’