The Corona crisis with its numerous challenges is costing the Bundesliga soccer teams dearly. Measured against the last three annual accounts, twelve of the future first division clubs rank below the line: because of some bright red numbers. The negative leader is Hertha BSC.
The pandemic years have eaten big holes in the pockets of the Bundesliga teams. While the balance sheets of the clubs were mostly quite decent until the outbreak of the corona virus in Wuhan, the past three years have left their mark on the club’s coffers. The “Kicker” summarizes it with a look at the sum of the total balances after the end of the respective financial year 2019, 2020, 2021. These are unflattering, sometimes even devastating numbers for the 18 clubs in the Bundesliga.
Only six clubs appear in the statistics with a positive overall balance. In descending order, they are: Bayern Munich, TSG Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig, SC Freiburg, FC Augsburg and FSV Mainz 05. Twelve of the 18 clubs that will play in the Bundesliga next year have a negative overall balance. While this is still within limits for clubs like VfL Bochum with minus seven million euros, the losses of other clubs add up to enormous numbers.
The negative leader is the Windhorst club Hertha BSC with minus 157.393 million euros, followed at some distance by the Ruhr area clubs Borussia Dortmund (minus 99.372 million euros) and FC Schalke 04 (minus 93.088 million euros). VfL Wolfsburg also scratched losses in the three-digit million range with minus 83.635 million euros.
Borussia Dortmund managed the questionable feat of achieving a whopping minus result despite three seasons in the financially very comfortable Champions League. For the 2020/2021 season alone with the quarter-finals against Manchester City, the Bundesliga club had collected 81.3 million euros and thus improved the result. At its balance sheet press conference in August 2021, the club announced a total loss of 72.8 million euros for the 2020/2021 season. For the 2021/22 financial year, however, BVB is heading for a significant plus.
Hertha BSC, on the other hand, almost relegated in the current round, saves at least financially the commitment of investor Lars Windhorst and his Tennor Holding. Since joining in 2019, Windhorst has supported the club with around 375 million euros. “It’s a partnership that puts us in a comparably good position and keeps us in a stable situation,” said CFO Ingo Schiller at the digital Hertha general meeting in January – and a deficit of just for the 2020/2021 season announced of 78 million euros.
