Where do Madrid get their Money From? (Spanish Football Clubs & Teams)

Member Name: C_Padd

Product:	Spanish Football Clubs & Teams
Date:	19/07/01 (245 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Spain are a strong force in Europe now, Real Madrid have strenghtend ever more

Disadvantages: Big clubs finances are in a mess not just in Spain, The craziness of transfer fees

Last summer Real Madrid broke the world record for a transfer fee when they signed Portuguese international midfielder for arch rivals Barcelona for £41 million. This year they have gone and beaten their own record by paying Juventus £48 million for French Midfielder Zinedine Zidane

Last season was a mixture for Real Madrid. They won La Liga easily, with Figo's ex team Barcelona only scraping into the champions league placing by finishing 3rd on the last day of the season. However it was a failure in the European cup, losing to eventual winners Bayer Munich, with fellow countrymen Valencia battling it out in the final. The prize money is good in the European Cup, and they will have picked up £10-15 million in winning the league and getting so far in the European Cup, as well as extra TV revenue total of £20 million. Still not enough to fund even half of one of the deals, and Real Madrid were reported to be struggling financially last year, so where does the rest come from?

Figo was a key signing; he inspired them to win things, and paid off some of his worth by playing well. Also added to that Real Madrid will have sold over 100,000 shirts, at £40 each, so an extra £4 million. Figo could have raised this by as much as 50% to 150,000 so £6 million was raised from that. As many European clubs are not run by a Chairman and his board, they have elected Presidents. Current Real Madrid president Florentino Perez promised to sign Luis Figo in his manifesto, and will have also put in club funds and donations from his own pocket and other sources of private donations, all in all a total of £5 million, most from local business and rich people who want their local team to do well. Also Figo's arrival sparked the sale of season tickets and match day tickets to dramatically increase, and the season tickets were sold out virtually instantly. The capacity of the Bearnebau stadium is around 50,000 so at £30 a ticket you will make £1.5 million every game. P
laying approx 20 home games a season you get a total of £ 30 million. Add to this sponsorship of £5-10 million a year, Read Madrid are sitting pretty. Banks in Spain will also give big loans to clubs, as they have a reputation for success they get good credit and can pay back with next year’s prize money. The President can also inject money enough to keep wages paid, and maintenances, but I still believe that the finances of several clubs, not just in Spain are in a mess and need to be looked into. The craziness of transfer fees doesn’t help, and there seems to be no end in sight to the money, as every year the clubs spend even more money. I wouldn’t bet against the British and World record fees being broken again next summer.

After the Spanish civil war General Franco and his fascists came to power, and Real Madrid were his team from the capital, and Barcelona were the Catalan team that were the rebels and so hatred was natural. Franco tried to exterminate the Catalan language and population, which obviously would make a few people just a bit mad. Even now the Catalan want independence, as do the Basque teams like Athletic Bilbo. The Basques are more extreme; ETA is a terrorist group that fight for independence. Barcelona have been eclipsed by Real Madrid’s, success the past five years, but before that Barcelona were the top team, with a young Ronaldo, Luis Figo and others ruling the show. Barcelona has refused to have a shirt sponsor, preferring to show off their Catalan colours. Valencia have emerged as a strong force recently and proved this year it was no fluke in losing to Real Madrid two years ago in the European Cup final. Real Madrid have flexed their financial muscles once again this year, and will be keen to show it was not wasted. Barcelona are also in the Champions League, and have made several lesser signings this summer, including two of the best South American talents - Brazilian Geovanni and Argentine Javier Saviola.
Watch out for Barca, as they will be a force next year. I still cannot see past Real Madrid for 2002 European cup to be held in Scotland, but Spanish clubs have proven they are one of the biggest forces to be reckoned with in Europe now.

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