Bundesliga Revenue

Constant growth – That’s how you could label the economic development of the first and second German Bundesliga. Season 18-19, that ended last summer, had a total revenue of 4.8 billion Euro and was the 15th season in a row with growth in total revenue figures. For comparison: In season 03-04, the total revenue of both leagues was at 1.28 billion Euro, which signals a growth of 275% ever since.¹ The total revenue figures of both leagues are thereby composed of the revenue figures of each club.²

As transparent as the DFL (German Football League) is about the total revenue figures of both leagues, it can be quite challenging to find revenue figures for each club, especially if you want to see a development over time, since these figures are usually published across many different sources. Therefore, I want to discuss revenue figures of the top 25 German clubs by highest revenue in season 17-18 in this article and also display, how their revenue has developed over the past six seasons.

At the top of the ranking, we can find the club, that has won every single Bundesliga trophy from season 12-13 to season 17-18. Bayern Munich has not only won the league several times in a row but has also generated the highest revenue in each of the past six seasons. Starting from 433 million Euro in 12-13, the club could grow its revenue in each of the past four seasons and has gathered a revenue as high as 657 million Euro in season 17-18, which is more than the combined revenue of all second Bundesliga clubs in 17-18. For comparison: Bayern earned 35 million Euro in season 19/20 alone from its shirt sponsor Telekom, which is more than most second Bundesliga clubs earn as total revenue in one season.

Borussia Dortmund comes in second with a revenue of 498 million Euro in season 17-18.⁴ Similar to Bayern Munich, which could increase its revenue by 224 million Euro since 12-13, Dortmund could also increase its revenue by 223 million Euro compared to season 12-13. Although since Dortmund’s revenue was lower than Bayern’s in 12-13, it shows that Borussia could grow its revenue by a larger percentage. A determining factor to this rise in revenue is the club’s tremendous success on the transfer market, where it earned over 100 million Euro in 16-17 and over 250 million Euro in 17-18. Borussia Dortmund is also the only club in the Bundesliga whose shares are publicly traded, with a current market capitalization of close to 600 million Euro.

Schalke 04 is placed third in the ranking with a revenue of 350 million Euro in the year 2018.⁵ The club from Gelsenkirchen doesn’t publish its revenue figures per season but per year, so we have to compare Schalke’s yearly revenue figures to other clubs’ seasonal revenue numbers. Schalke’s revenue grew from 207 million Euro in 2013 to 264 million Euro in 2015. However, with no participation in the UEFA Champions League from season 15-16 to season 17-18, the next two years saw a decline in revenue growth, with 265 million Euro in 2016 and a decrease to 240 million Euro in 2017. Nonetheless, among other contributing factors the second rank at the end of Bundesliga season 17-18 helped the revenue of the club surge to a high of 350 million Euro in 2018.

On spot 4-6 we can find three clubs, which are each closely connected to well-known companies that are generating billions in revenue each year. Bayer 04 Leverkusen is a former works team of Bayer and the company remains to be the club’s only shareholder. VfL Wolfsburg was not founded as a company team of Volkswagen, but has been closely connected to VW throughout its existence, which also led to the company becoming the only shareholder of the club today. RB Leipzig is also very closely connected to Red Bull, although it is legally not 100% owned by the company.

The impact of these companies towards the clubs can clearly be seen in the revenue figures, since all three of them are among the highest revenue-generating football clubs in Germany. However, RB Leipzig is the only club of the three, that has published its annual revenue figures since 2015.⁶ From season 18-19 onwards, the clubs seems to have switched to seasonal revenue figures though, which leaves us to estimate the revenue for season 17-18. Leverkusen and Wolfsburg do not disclose their financial data, which makes it necessary to estimate their revenue figures.

In an effort to increase financial transparency, the DFL decided to publish key financial figures for each of the 36 clubs in first and second Bundesliga starting from season 17-18 onwards. These numbers contain revenue figures minus material costs, which can be used to estimate revenue figures of the three clubs quite well, since material costs for football clubs are usually not that high. For previous seasons however, we have to use total revenue numbers of the league as well as revenue figures of specific clusters within the league, which are both published by the DFL. We can then subtract known revenue figures of all other clubs from these numbers to get an estimate of Leverkusen’s and Wolfsburg’s historical revenue. It is a rough estimate but it is as precise as we can get.

The resulting numbers offer interesting insights. Leipzig’s revenue has grown every year and its movement from 4th domestic league to Champions League in just 6 years has put the club on the 5th spot of revenue-generating football clubs in Germany in 17-18. Compared to 2015, RB grew its revenue by 200% from 82 million to an estimated number of 247 million Euro in season 17-18. In contrast to Leipzig, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg have been not only among the highest revenue generating football clubs in Germany in 17-18, their estimated revenue figures show that they have been among Europe’s top revenue generating football clubs for several seasons.

Leverkusen’s estimated revenue numbers have been in an uptrend over the past six seasons. Starting with 100 million Euro in season 12-13, the club could increase its revenue significantly in the following seasons due to continuous Champions League participations from 13-14 to 16-17 and some profitable transfer windows. Compared to season 12-13, Bayer 04 doubled its estimated revenue to 200 million Euro in season 14-15. A temporary peak was reached in 15-16 with 250 million Euro. Growth in revenue slowed down a bit in the following seasons with a minor decline to 225 million Euro in 16-17 and a repetition of the 15-16 peak with 250 million Euro in 17-18.

Wolfsburg’s estimated revenue has been even higher than Leverkusen’s throughout the past seasons and has stayed above 200 million Euro in each season from 12-13 to 17-18. The club’s average estimated revenue over these seasons has been the 4th highest in Germany and is only a few million Euro away from Schalke’s average revenue. Looking at the development over the past few seasons, Wolfsburg’s estimated revenue has been rather constant though, with an estimated revenue of around 200-225 million Euro in four of the six considered seasons. A peak was reached in season 15-16 with a revenue of 350 million Euro due to a Champions League participation and significant earnings on the transfer market.

On spots 7-10 we can find four clubs, whose revenue figures have been around the same level. From Eintracht Frankfurt’s 176 million Euro revenue in 2018⁷ to Hoffenheim’s 165 million Euro revenue in 17-18,¹⁰ there is just a difference of 11 million between spot number 7 and 10. Rhenish rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Cologne fit right in with 172 million Euro revenue each.^8,9 As seen with Schalke before, the numbers of the clubs are not exactly comparable, since Frankfurt and Mönchengladbach report only annual figures, whereas the figures of Cologne and Hoffenheim are seasonal.

The numbers for Frankfurt and Cologne outline constant growth. For six years/seasons in a row, their revenue has gone up in every single year. Compared to 2013, Eintracht Frankfurt has grown its revenue by 103%, whereas Cologne even had a growth of 183% compared to season 12-13. Gladbach’s revenue figures have grown each year from 2013 to 2016, although the club’s numbers have been moving in a range from 160 to 200 million Euro since 2015. Hoffenheim’s revenue was also ranging around 70 million Euro from season 12-13 to 14-15, while the revenue increased to 129 million Euro in season 15-16, mainly due to selling Roberto Firmino for 41 million Euro to Liverpool. Further transfers and qualifications for European football competitions led to a revenue of 112 million Euro in season 16-17 and 165 million Euro in 17-18.

Placed on rank number 11 and 12, we have the first two clubs, that are currently playing in the second Bundesliga. In season 17-18, the Hamburger SV has generated 165 million Euro in revenue,¹¹ whereas VfB Stuttgart has earned a revenue of 154 million Euro.¹² Both clubs have been among the highest revenue-generating clubs in the past 6 seasons, their average revenue per season over this time span ranks them 7th and 8th among all German football clubs. Both clubs have also underperformed compared to the league in general: While the total revenue of first and second Bundesliga grew by 71% in the past six seasons, HSV’s revenue grew by 25% and Stuttgart’s by 34%.

On the other hand, Hertha BSC Berlin, which is placed thirteenth in the ranking, has outperformed the total league numbers. Having a revenue of 56 million Euro in season 12-13, the club increased its revenue in each of the past six seasons. Hertha closed season 17-18 with a revenue of 146 million Euro, outlining a growth of 159% compared to 12-13.¹³ Werder Bremen, which is placed on spot number 14, has shown growing revenue numbers from season-to-season as well (with the exception of season 17-18). However, its growth was smaller than the league average with 26% from 12-13 to 17-18.¹⁴

FSV Mainz 05 is placed on spot number fifteen with a revenue of 114 million Euro in season 17-18.¹⁵ The club’s revenue figures show the same pattern of those of the aforementioned TSG Hoffenheim, with a stable revenue from 12-13 to 14-15 and then a sudden increase due to higher returns in the transfer window. From 12-13 to 14-15, Mainz’ revenue was around 75 million Euro, but then increased to the mark of around 110 million Euro with earnings of over 25 million Euro on the transfer market during each of the past three seasons.

On spots 16 to 20 we can find several clubs, which have been playing at least one season in the second Bundesliga or have mostly reached lower places in the first Bundesliga. SC Freiburg reached spot number 16 in the ranking with a revenue of 100 million Euro in season 17-18. The club’s revenue has been stagnant in the five seasons prior to 17-18, with around 50 million Euro in 12-13, around 75 million Euro in 13-14 to 14-15 and around 55 million Euro in both its sole season in the second Bundesliga (15-16) and the follow-up season in the first Bundesliga (16-17).¹⁶

Augsburg is the only club outside of the top 15 in this ranking, that has been playing in the first Bundesliga in each of the past six seasons. With 92 million Euro in revenue in season 17-18, the club is ranked on spot number 17.¹⁷ Augsburg’s revenue growth is above the Bundesliga average with a 118% higher revenue compared to season 12-13. Similar to Hoffenheim and Mainz, its revenue surged in 15-16 and has been around the same mark ever since, although contrary to the aforementioned two, those returns didn’t come from the transfer market.

Hannover 96, placed on spot number 18 with a revenue of 88 million Euro in 17-18, is one of the few clubs which had a stable revenue over the past six seasons. With the exception of the club’s second Bundesliga stay in season 16-17, the club’s revenue has been around the mark of 80 million Euro.¹⁸ On the contrary, Ingolstadt, which is placed 19th with a revenue of 66 million Euro in 17-18, has been growing its revenue by 177% compared to season 12-13.¹⁹ Ingolstadt’s revenue increased by 100% in season 15-16 alone, when the club participated in the first Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history. However, the club has been relegated to the third league since.

On spot number 20, we can find the only club in the ranking, that has been playing solely in the second Bundesliga throughout the considered time span. FC St. Pauli reached the 20th spot with a revenue of 49 million Euro in season 17-18.²⁰ With a growth of 64% compared to its revenue of 30 million Euro in season 12-13, the club increased its numbers by nearly the same percentage than the league on average.

The five remaining spots in the ranking are filled with two clubs, that are currently playing in the Bundesliga, one club that is currently active in the second Bundesliga and two clubs, that have been relegated to the 3. Liga at the end of season 17-18. 1. FC Nürnberg is placed on rank 21 with a revenue of 44 million Euro in 17-18.²¹ It is one of just two clubs in the ranking, whose revenue number is lower in 17-18 than in 12-13. Compared to 12-13, Nuremberg’s revenue went down by 18% from 54 million Euro, compared to season 13-14, it went down by 31% from 64 million Euro.

In contrast to FCN, Union Berlin’s revenue figures have been in an uptrend throughout the last six seasons. Starting from 20 million Euro in season 12-13, the club managed to grow its revenue to around 27 million Euro in season 13-14 and season 14-15. In season 15-16, Union reached a revenue figure of 31 million Euro, which grew to 39 million Euro in 16-17. The club’s revenue of 44 million Euro in season 17-18 puts them on place 22 in this ranking.²²

Fortuna Düsseldorf is the second club in the ranking whose revenue figures have been lower in season 17-18 than in season 12-13. The club managed to reach a revenue of 51 million Euro in season 12-13, which decreased by 22% to 40 million Euro in season 17-18. It is also one of the few clubs in the ranking, that didn’t continuously publish its revenue figures, most of the figures listed in the graphic below are from newspaper releases rather than from Fortuna’s official website. The number of 30 million Euro for season 14-15 is estimated.²³

Eintracht Braunschweig, ranked on spot number 24 with a revenue of 38 million Euro in season 17-18, has growing revenue figures in each season from 14-15 to 17-18, although the club’s revenue in season 17-18 is around the same number than Eintracht’s last Bundesliga season in 13-14.²⁴ FC Kaiserslautern is placed on spot number 25 with a revenue of 36 million Euro in season 17-18. FCK’s revenue has been stable throughout the past seasons with a number of 38-39 million Euro in each of the previous four seasons from 13-14 to 16-17.²⁵

The ranking showed some interesting insights. Among 17 clubs that are currently active in the first Bundesliga, just five clubs from the current second Bundesliga entered the ranking. It outlines the huge monetary difference between first and second Bundesliga, which is also underlined by Bayern Munich’s revenue in season 17-18 being higher than the combined revenue of all second Bundesliga clubs in the same season. Nonetheless, the difference between second and third domestic league seems smaller, since three clubs can be found in the ranking, which have been among the top 25 revenue-generating football clubs in 17-18, but have been relegated to the 3. Liga since.

However, this ranking should not only discuss revenue numbers of German football clubs but also enable a discussion in the first place, since these revenue figures are published across many different sources, making a comparison between clubs and a clubs’ number across different seasons difficult. Even a widely quoted publication like the “Deloitte Football Money League” doesn’t seem to consider all of the numbers mentioned in the ranking, since Wolfsburg’s and Leverkusen’s estimated revenue figures put them among the top revenue generating clubs in Europe throughout the past five seasons, although they were never included in Deloitte’s ranking.

All in all, this research piece should provide more clarity and transparency towards the revenue figures of the top German football clubs over the past six seasons and should therefore encourage discussions on that matter.