Borussia Dortmund, the German soccer giants, have made a significant financial turnaround in the 2023-24 season. The club's successful run to the UEFA Champions League final has been a major contributor to this success. Dortmund reported a 22% increase in revenue for the 2023-24 season, amounting to €510 million ($560.4 million). This represents an almost €91 million increase from the previous year. Consequently, they posted a profit of €44.3 million for that financial year - an impressive rise from €9.5 million in 2022-23.
The most significant factor driving this revenue uplift was TV rights fees resulting from their successful UCL campaign where they reached the final but were defeated by Real Madrid with a scoreline of 2-0. Broadcasting revenue alone accounted for €206.1 million, marking an upsurge of 31% from €157.5 million in the prior year.
- Domestic TV rights contributed to €84.4 million - up by €4.5million.
- Revenue specifically from their UCL season was recorded at €120.1million - significantly higher than €74.5million in 2022-23.
However, it is worth noting that Dortmund’s early exit in DFB-Pokal round-of-16 led to a decline in TV income for that cup competition – dropping from €3.1million to€1.5million.
Commercial and Matchday Revenues
Commercial revenue also saw an uptick during this period – rising slightly to €146.6million compared with €142.million previously. This boost came primarily through partnerships with:
- Shirt sponsors Evonik and 1&1
- Kit supplier Puma
- Stadium naming rights partner Signal Iduna
- Other 'champion partners' including GLS and nine others
In the last year, Dortmund also formed partnerships with Coinbase, Tenways, StarGames, and controversially with arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. Additionally, they extended their marketing partnership with international agency Sportfive until June 2031. Matchday income increased to €52.6 million from €43.5 million while revenue from merchandising rose by 43% to €47.9 million.
Future prospects
Dortmund is not resting on its laurels; the club opened its first office in the US in March and aims to more than double its sponsorship revenue in that market.
The club will be appointing a new chief executive next year following Hans-Joachim Watzke's announcement of stepping down from his role in 2025 after successfully guiding Dortmund through a challenging financial period caused by the Covid-19 pandemic where they lost €150 million.
Despite this setback, Dortmund returned to profit for the first time since the pandemic hit in 2022-23 – a remarkable recovery from announcing a loss of almost €32million for 2021-22. Borussia Dortmund's successful UCL run has significantly contributed to their financial turnaround - demonstrating how on-field success can translate into off-field profitability.
