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FC Bayern Munich has dominated the Bundesliga on the pitch for years and has now won 13 of the last 14 championships. This is mainly due to the financial dominance of the club, which can then regularly secure the best players in the world. In this article, we analyze the record of the German record champions from the 2024/25 season and show the development of the last 10 years.
Bayern Munich’s 2024/25 Financial Breakdown: Revenue Streams and Cost Structure Explained
All figures used in this analysis refer to FC Bayern’s consolidated figures. That is, the entire joint-stock company, which also includes, for example, the women’s football department or the stadium company. In total, Bayern Munich has achieved sales of 978.3 million euros. This represents a record turnover and shows that Bayern are increasingly approaching the one billion mark that only Real Madrid was able to reach last season. This turnover is made up of 6 different categories. The largest source of income is revenue from gaming operations. This amounts to €260.7 million and represents the revenue generated by home games, for example, through ticket sales or catering revenue. The second largest position on the revenue side is the money generated from sponsorship and marketing. These are 240.4 million euros. Income from sponsorship contracts and prize money from the Champions League also flow into this. The Champions League prize money largely determines how much FC Bayern earns in this position and was analyzed for the past season in the following article. Another item is very similar to this, but split separately and relates to media marketing revenue. It amounts to 105.3 million euros and consists almost exclusively of the revenue from TV money in the Bundesliga (102.9 million euros). The third highest item is revenue from merchandising, which is 150.5 million euros. In addition, Bayern Munich generated 117.7 million euros from transfers, i.e. player sales. Under the last item Other, the remaining smaller income from, for example, the museum, rentals or the second team was stated as 51.9 million euros.
On the expenditure side, FC Bayern spent a total of 910.5 million euros. The biggest item here (as with almost every football club) is the total personnel expenditure. This is 408.3 million euros and includes all costs for club employees. The total personnel expenditure is therefore 41.7% of turnover. This is a very low figure and illustrates how financially sound the club is in the long term. FC Barcelona, for example, has a similar turnover of 63.2%. A detailed analysis of Barca’s figures can be found here. Bayern Munich is therefore significantly less risky than FC Barcelona in terms of its ongoing salary costs. The second largest item in terms of expenses is operating expenses amounting to EUR 310 million. These operational expenses include, for example, transfer fees for transfers. In addition, there are further expenditures for material costs and use amounting to 59.9 million euros. This section mostly describes the use of goods for merchandising items, such as jerseys. The last part is depreciation of EUR 132.3 million. These write-offs are divided into transfer and investment write-offs. Depreciation of player values dominates with 126.4 million euros. We have already explained how depreciation of player values works using Juventus as an example.
Ten‑Year Financial Development: How Bayern’s Revenues and Profits Evolved Since 2015
In total, FC Bayern Munich achieved a positive operational result of 187.8 million euros. However, the profit before taxes is only 42.5 million euros due to other effects. After taxes, Bayern Munich generated 27.1 million euros in the 2024/25 season. Thus, although the club generated record sales, its annual profit fell by 38% (from the original 43.1 million euros in the previous season). What is also exciting to see is the development of the annual surplus over the last 10 years. Over the last 10 years, FC Bayern has always generated an annual surplus. Even during the years of the Corona crisis, when other clubs suffered heavy losses. This shows the strong economic viability of the club and also the security that the club combines with conservative spending behavior through a steadily increasing revenue side. The annual surplus has always fluctuated very widely over the last 10 years, probably due to sporting successes and special expenditure, for example, on unplanned transfers to achieve sporting goals. This also becomes clear when comparing operating profit (EBITDA) with annual surplus. Although it is usually the case that the annual surplus is higher when the operating profit is higher, this does not occur as a regular dependency. For example, the 2018/19 season saw the highest annual surplus of €52.5 million in the last 10 years, but significantly lower EBITDA than the 2024/25 season.
The development of sales is particularly exciting to see. This increased sharply from the 2015/16 season linearly to the 2018/19 season (from 628.8 million to 750.4 million euros). This increase was then significantly slowed by the Corona pandemic, which meant that sales in the following three seasons were again below the 2018/19 figure. When the pandemic finally ended in the 2022/23 season and there were no more restrictions, sales increased significantly, reaching a then record level of 854.2 million euros. Sales then rose further to 951.5 million euros in 2023/24. A list of sales, operating profits and annual profit can be seen in the following table.
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Balance Sheet Analysis: Assets, Liabilities and Equity Structure of FC Bayern Munich
Let us now look at the club’s assets/liabilities balance sheet. In total, FC Bayern has equity of 585.5 million euros. The club thus has an equity share of 61.3%. In addition, there are provisions of EUR 82.8 million. The association has liabilities of 229.5 million euros. That is gross debt at a turnover rate of 0.23. Also a very good value, which is over 2 for FC Barcelona, for example. The balance sheet total of EUR 955 million is completed by deferred income of EUR 57.2 million on the liabilities side. This compares with fixed assets of EUR 547 million and current assets of EUR 398 million on the assets side. The fixed assets are divided into intangible assets of EUR 282 million and EUR 265 million in tangible and financial assets. Current assets, on the other hand, include receivables, down payments, inventories and bank cash balances. In addition, deferred income of EUR 8.1 million and EUR 1.9 million in active overhang come from asset clearing.
Conclusion & Outlook: Bayern’s Financial Strength and the Road to €1 Billion Revenue
Overall, the figures published by Bayern Munich show that the club is economically very healthy. This is underpinned by the steadily increasing figures in sales. But the very high equity ratio also shows independence from sporting success and other external factors. This became clear, for example, during the Corona pandemic, when many clubs were on the verge of bankruptcy, while FC Bayern still achieved a year’s surplus. Although the season was not a great success for Bayern, with an exit and quarter-finals of the Champions League, the club was still able to excel financially and achieve record numbers. This means that Bayern Munich remains one of the financially strongest football clubs in the world and is expected to generate over one billion euros in revenue in the 2025/26 season.
