On top of the world
Real Madrid has long been used to being at the top of the football world, not only for titles but also for money. For nearly 2 decades, the Spanish Royal team has continuously appeared in the number one position in the global revenue rankings. They earn the most money, the most regular and the most persistent. But the closer we look at the numbers, the more the financial picture of Real Madrid appears with more complex levels than what is still claimed.
High income does not mean absolute wealth. However, Real Madrid are even more proud. The 2024 - 2025 financial report confirmed that they have recorded a surplus for the 23rd consecutive year, a series of rare achievements even in the professional sports world. The COVID-19 pandemic did not break that profit streak. No net debt, the world's highest revenue, profits remain stable. President Florentino Perez often recalls these as evidence of an exemplary governance model.
However, it was also during Perez's tenure that Real Madrid entered the biggest, busiest and most controversial financial decisions in the club's 123-year history.
When the Spanish construction tycoon was first elected in 2000, Real Madrid was not a machine for smooth profit. The club is in debt of about 280 million Euros, having just experienced a season of losses of 69 million Euros. The Champions League win was not enough to cover up the problems off the pitch. Perez came with a promise that was very familiar in modern football in the future: Spending big in exchange for growth.
Luis Figo from Barcelona, then Zinedine Zidane from Juventus, the world record-breaking contracts have appeared consecutively. But the leverage is not really in the dressing room. The agreement to sell the old training ground to the Madrid government for 448 million Euros is a turning point. That money helped Los Blancos debt-free, paving the way for the Galacticos era and laying the foundation for the subsequent commercial boom.
Real Madrid's revenue tripled in the first decade of the 21st century. In the 2004 - 2005 season, they surpassed all opponents to become the club with the highest revenue in the world and held that position for more than a decade. White shirt is not only a sports symbol, but has become a global brand.
Today, that commercial strength is clearly reflected through huge contracts. Adidas pays €120 million a year to join Real Madrid. In the 2023 - 2024 season alone, sales revenue reached 76 million Euros, bringing the total value of cooperation to nearly 200 million Euros per year, the highest in Europe. Emirates pays an additional 70 million Euros per season for the logo position on the jersey. These two contracts alone have put Real Madrid in a very small group of clubs with outstanding commercial revenue.
New and always profitable resources
But the largest source of money in recent years has come from another place. The new Bernabeu Stadium. The stadium renovation project began in 2019, with the ambition to turn the Bernabeu into a multi-purpose, sleepless entertainment center. Roofing, mobile grass, ability to organize concerts, events, conferences. It is expected that non-footballing revenue will cover all costs. In fact, the total investment has amounted to 1.347 billion Euros, of which 1.17 billion Euros is in loans.
Real Madrid rarely emphasize this number. In the statements, they often separate state project debt from operating debt. But on the accounting balance sheet, it is still a debt of more than 1.3 billion Euros, the second highest in football in the world, after Barcelona.
3 loans with an average interest rate of about 3.2%, the repayment period lasts until 2053. From 2027, Real Madrid will have to spend more than 66 million Euros a year to repay their debts. Bernabeu must support themselves, otherwise they will not be a long-term burden.
The initial numbers are quite positive. In the 2024 - 2025 season, ticket sales at Bernabeu reached 79.2 million Euros, an increase of more than 50 million compared to before the renovation. Total stadium revenue exceeded 326 million Euros, nearly double the previous one. But a significant part of that does not belong to Real Madrid.
The agreement with the US investment fund, Sixth Street, signed in 2021, brought the club more than 300 million Euros in immediate cash. In return, a subsidiary of Sixth Street has enjoyed about 30% of its non-ticket-related stadium revenue for 20 years. This money helps Real Madrid avoid a year of heavy losses, but also means that they have sold some of their futures in advance.
It is noteworthy how Real Madrid recorded this deal. According to financial sources, the club still recorded stadium revenue as a gross value, although partly shared. This method helps them maintain higher squad spending limits according to La Liga and UEFA regulations. legality, accepted by the audit, but not without controversy.
Sixth Street has begun to recover capital and is expected to earn more than €400 million before the deal ends. Real Madrid has maintained its image as a "always profitable" club.
There is nothing free
Another paradox is the cost. Despite a sharp increase in revenue, Real Madrid's profit margin has decreased significantly compared to the period before 2019. Pre-tax profit in the 2024 - 2025 season only accounts for about 2.3% of revenue. The money did not disappear, but flowed into intangible items.
Other operating costs is the largest and most vague category. Over the past decade, more than €750 million has been spent here, with little explanation. Some of that came from revenue sharing deals, such as a joint venture with Providence Equity Partners, where Real Madrid received money in advance in exchange for a portion of future sponsorship revenue. These types of deals help increase revenue, but costs also increase.
On the pitch, Real Madrid are still spending big, but not to the maximum they can. The player salary ratio compared to current revenue is only about 44%, the lowest level in the past 15 years. The total cost of football is much lower than the spending ceiling allowed by La Liga. This makes opponents worried, because Real Madrid still have a lot of room to accelerate if necessary.
And that concern is one of the reasons Perez gave when proposing to allow outside investors to buy club stocks, breaking the ownership model of socio-economic unions that has existed for more than a century. Real Madrid are not poor, but they also do not want to be left behind in the global money race, where PSG or the Premier League tycoons are backed by almost unlimited capital sources.
Real Madrid is currently still the most effective money-making machine in the football field. But behind the beautiful numbers is an increasingly complex financial structure, relying more on debt, on future pre-sales and on sophisticated accounting decisions. The new Bernabeu has sparkled as a symbol of the modern era, but it is also a reminder that even the greatest financial power must make the trade-off.
In football, as in life, there are no completely free parties. And Real Madrid, more than anyone, understands the price of always being at the top.
