The professional football clubs in Romania generated revenues of some EUR 56 million in 2015, some EUR 10 million less than in the previous year, according to data from the Professional Football League (LPF), reports local Mediafax.

By comparison, Spanish super-clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona had revenues of over EUR 560 million each in the 2014/2015 season, according to Deloitte's Football Money League report.

The Romanian clubs' highest chunk of revenues comes from broadcasting rights (40%), followed by grants from local authorities (20%), sponsorship and advertising (19%), and prizes from UEFA for the clubs that played in European competition (9%). Ticket sales only brought 3% of the total revenues. Top European clubs still get a lot of money from ticket sales. English club Arsenal leads the ranking with EUR 132 million worth of matchday revenues in the 2014/2015 season.

The local football clubs that registered the highest revenues in 2015 were FC Steaua Bucuresti – EUR 8 million, followed by CS Pandurii Tg. Jiu and ASA Targu Mures. The last two football clubs are currently insolvent, as they lost their top sponsors.

FC Steaua Bucuresti, FC Dinamo Bucuresti, and FC Botosani had the highest revenues from tickets, according to the statement from FRF. When it comes to revenues from sponsorship and advertising, FC Dinamo Bucuresti ranks first with more than EUR 1.3 million, followed by FC Steaua Bucuresti – some EUR 1.2 million, and Viitorul Constanta – over EUR 780,000.

Five football clubs registered net profits in 2015, namely FC Viitorul – EUR 1.2 million, CS Gaz Metan Medias – EUR 520,000, FC Botosani – EUR 125,000, CS Pandurii Tg. Jiu – EUR 89,000, and FC Dinamo Bucuresti, which made a profit from debt writedown during insolvency.

In 2014, the professional football in Romania generated total revenues of EUR 66 million.

One of Bucharest’s top football clubs goes bankrupt

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com