Real Madrid, first club to exceed 1,000 million euros in operating income

Real Madrid has made history on a financial level. It has become the first club to exceed 1,000 million euros in operating incomeaccording to Football Benchmark's 2025 European Champions Report, which assesses the business performance of the national champions of six European leagues (Inter, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, PSV Eindhoven, Real Madrid and Sporting de Portugal) during the 2023-24 season.

The report offers an analysis and comparison of the main performance indicators between these champions, complemented by a preliminary assessment of general sector trends that is largely based on the financial results of other European clubs that have already published their financial statements. to December 2024.

The club chaired by Florentino Pérez reached some Total revenue of 1,065 million eurosstaying ahead of Manchester City (838 million). Paris Saint-Germain completes the trio of champions with 806 million euros in operating income.

The new Bernabéu It has also given income to Real Madrid, because the white club earned a record number of matches per game. 251 million euroswhich meant a 28% year-on-year growth in operating income. The new VIP areas generated additional income of 83 million.

Furthermore, he had a 26% increase in commercial income for merchandising sales and advertising agreements and 8% in retransmission incomehelped by the victory in the UEFA Champions League.

Another aspect that puts Madrid in the lead is in the market value of the squadvalued at 1,364 million eurosaccording to the report. He business value of the club (Enterprise Value) too leader worldwide with 5,097 million.

Leading in quarry income

This year's edition also focuses on the development of youth talent, evaluating metrics such as the number of youth players who reach the first team in 2024-25, income from sales of quarry players between 2019-20 and 2024-25 and the percentage of minutes played by under 21 players between April 2023 and March 2024.

In this sense, Real Madrid and PSV Eindhoven They stand out as the champions of the six leagues with the best performance. Both clubs They stand out in the volume of players who reach the first team.

But, on top of that, The Spanish club also leads in income generated by sales of youth footballers from among the six champions. Between 2019 and 2025, generated 218 million.

White cost efficiency

Regarding costs, four of the six champions analyzed saw their expenses increase of personnel. Manchester City were an exception, reducing them slightly, while Inter remained stable.

Instead, PSG was the one that spent the most (668 million euros), followed by Real Madrid (505 million euros), which rose 12% due to the collective bonuses (41 million) awarded for sporting successes. However, The white club stood out for its efficiency in the ratio between personnel costs and operating income (47%)while PSG (83%) and Sporting (89%) exceeded the recommended threshold of 70%.

Madrid closed the financial year with a positive net profit of 16 million eurosdemonstrating economic solidity even with significant investments.

If we take into account other non-champion clubs, it is worth noting that Barcelona, ​​the club that spent the most last season, reduced its personnel expenses by 26%, up to 476 million euros.

With efficient cost control, Real Madrid remains a reference model in financial terms within European football and is positioned not only as a sporting giant, but as a leading global brand that combines financial and on-field success.