FC Barcelona: "Covid-19 has highlighted the fragility of the club's business model" (KPMG)

"Like many other football clubs, FC Barcelona (LaLiga Santander) is facing financial problems as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic - however, the level and nature of its financial difficulties have highlighted the fragility of the club's business model. In recent years, soaring fixed costs have been offset by equally high revenues and financed by high levels of debt. Today, the club is facing a lack of revenue and rapidly maturing obligations, which puts it in a more vulnerable position in terms of liquidity," said KPMG Football Benchmark, the football business intelligence platform of the international network of audit and advisory firms, in an analysis entitled "Covid-19 gives the Blaugrana the blues" published on 09/03/2021.

As part of the study, KPMG analysed several financial indicators for FC Barcelona: operating revenues and expenses since 2015-16, as well as total financial debt and short-term financial debt as of 30/06/2020 (see below). Barcelona posted a turnover of €855m for the 2019-20 financial year (from 01/07/2019 to 30/06/2020), down 14% versus 2018-19 (€990m). The…