Is Barcelona actually poor? FC Barcelona generated more than €1 billion in ordinary revenue during the 2025/26 season. So why does one of the biggest football clubs in the world still talk about financial restrictions, debt and the need for new borrowing?
The answer is that being a valuable club and having money readily available are two very different things.
Barcelona’s 2025/26 finances at a glance
Barcelona’s members approved the financial accounts for the year ended 30 June 2026 at the General Assembly on 19 September 2026. Those figures offer a clearer picture than either the headlines about a financial crisis or the club’s optimistic revenue announcements.
| Financial measure | 2025/26 | What it tells us |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary revenue | €1.06 billion | Record turnover, up €66 million year on year |
| Ordinary result | €0.2 million profit | Core activities were effectively at break-even |
| Net result | €18 million loss | The bottom line remained negative after extraordinary items and tax |
| EBITDA | €140 million | Positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, as reported in the club’s September summary |
| Net equity | Negative €168 million | Reported liabilities exceeded book-value assets |
| Net debt (LaLiga definition) | €607 million | Up from €469 million a year earlier; this is not a measure of all stadium-related borrowing |
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First, Barcelona are not a small or low-revenue football club
In revenue terms, describing Barcelona as poor simply does not make sense. The club took in €1.06 billion in ordinary revenue during 2025/26, compared with approximately €994 million in 2024/25. Few sporting institutions anywhere operate on that scale.
The income is not dependent on one superstar or a single competition. Barcelona receive money from sponsorship, broadcasting, matchdays, hospitality, commercial activity and merchandising. In the 2025/26 accounts, selected revenue lines included approximately €265 million in sponsorship, €208 million through Barça Licensing & Merchandising, €246 million from media and television rights, and €225 million in stadium-related activities. These are selected categories, not a complete reconciliation of group revenue.
The merchandising figure is particularly revealing. Barcelona are a global consumer brand as well as a football team, and record sales show that years of financial controversy have not destroyed the commercial appeal of the badge. Revenue associated with the stadium also improved as Camp Nou began generating more activity again.
However, revenue is not the same as profit, and profit is not the same as available cash. A club can have enormous sales and still struggle to meet payment deadlines if its expenses and debt obligations consume most of that income.
So why did Barcelona still lose €18 million?
After earning €1.06 billion in ordinary revenue, Barcelona ended 2025/26 with an ordinary profit of just €200,000. That is a razor-thin margin for an organisation of this size. It suggests that the regular football and business operations had largely stabilised, not that the club was suddenly accumulating large annual surpluses.
The final result was worse: a net loss of €18 million after extraordinary items and taxes. Reporting on the accounts identified a further write-down related to the Barça Studios/Barça Produccions business among the items affecting the result. In other words, there is a real distinction between the club’s near-break-even ordinary performance and the loss shown at the bottom of its income statement.
Barcelona had also reported net losses of around €17 million in 2024/25 and €91 million in 2023/24. The direction of ordinary operations has improved, but repeated net losses demonstrate why record turnover alone cannot be treated as proof of financial health.
Even the positive EBITDA of €140 million needs context. EBITDA excludes major costs such as interest and depreciation or amortisation. It can tell us something useful about the strength of operations, but it does not reveal how much money remains after the club finances its stadium, pays creditors and settles other obligations.
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The debt problem: why different headlines give different numbers
One reason Barcelona’s finances are confusing is that the word debt is often used to describe different things. The reported LaLiga-defined net debt stood at €607 million on 30 June 2026, up from €469 million a year before. Net debt is calculated under a particular framework and is not interchangeable with gross debt, transfer instalments or the full financing arranged for the Camp Nou redevelopment.
Then there is Espai Barça, the enormous redevelopment project centred on Spotify Camp Nou. It has its own financing arrangements, backed by future stadium-related income. Combining every figure in a headline without explaining the scope can be misleading; excluding the stadium arrangements when assessing Barcelona’s overall financial commitments can be misleading too.
For that reason, a sensible assessment asks three separate questions: how much the club owes within its operating business, how much financing is committed to the stadium project, and how comfortably future cash flows can meet those payments. The last question matters far more than a single dramatic debt figure.
Why Camp Nou is both the solution and the risk
The Camp Nou redevelopment sits at the centre of Barcelona’s financial strategy. A larger, modern stadium should eventually provide more income from ticketing, premium seating, hospitality, commercial spaces and other events. If that revenue materialises, the project could strengthen the club’s finances for decades.
But construction requires funding before the full benefits arrive. At the September 2026 General Assembly, members approved a further €510 million financing package. According to the club, €300 million was intended for completing Spotify Camp Nou, while €210 million was to be raised through two issues of notes backed by future LaLiga and UEFA audiovisual revenues. The club said one €105 million tranche had been issued in July 2026 and another was planned for October or November. Approval of financing should not be confused with all of that money having already been borrowed or spent.
Reuters reported on 24 September that the €300 million stadium financing component would be repaid from future stadium income over 30 years, while the audiovisual-backed financing had a maturity of up to 10 years. The second component is important: when future broadcasting money is used as security for present borrowing, that reduces financial flexibility if expected revenues arrive late or costs exceed expectations.
Construction delays make this a particularly delicate period. Money has to be spent on the project and associated financing costs before the fully developed stadium can generate the income used to justify it. In this sense, Camp Nou is simultaneously Barcelona’s most convincing long-term growth opportunity and a significant short-term cash-flow challenge.
Does negative equity mean Barcelona are bankrupt?
No. Barcelona reported negative net equity of €168 million at the end of June 2026, compared with negative €153 million one year earlier. In accounting terms, negative equity means the recorded value of liabilities is greater than the recorded value of assets. It is an important warning about the balance sheet, but it does not automatically mean that an organisation cannot pay its next bill.
It also does not mean the club has no economic value. Homegrown players, global brand recognition, loyal supporters and future business opportunities are not necessarily reflected in book values in the same way that an outside buyer might value them. Equally, a high estimated club valuation is not cash sitting in a bank account. Barcelona cannot pay a transfer fee with a magazine’s valuation of the club.
Both ideas can be true: Barcelona remain an exceptionally valuable sporting institution, and their accounts still reveal genuine balance-sheet weakness.
What about LaLiga’s 1:1 spending rule?
Barcelona have highlighted an improvement in their sporting cost ratio, which the club put at 53% of operating revenue in its September 2026 announcement. Club officials also said they had returned to LaLiga’s so-called 1:1 position after years of financial restrictions.
That is meaningful progress, but supporters should not interpret the phrase as an unlimited transfer budget. LaLiga’s registration and squad-cost controls concern the financial capacity a club is permitted to commit to players and staff. They are not the same thing as having that amount in immediately available cash, nor do they erase debt or guarantee that every potential signing can be registered without further conditions.
Barcelona may therefore be in a stronger regulatory position than in previous seasons while still having reasons to negotiate payment schedules, manage wages carefully and limit certain deals.
Can Barcelona finally grow out of the problem?
The club’s approved budget for 2026/27 projects €1.195 billion in ordinary revenue and a net profit of approximately €1 million. Barcelona expect stadium-related income to play a major role, alongside commercial and audiovisual growth. Crucially, however, €1.195 billion is a forecast, not an achieved result.
The optimistic case is straightforward. Revenue keeps rising; sporting costs remain under control; Camp Nou becomes fully operational; and the club generates enough reliable cash to service and eventually reduce its financial obligations. Under that scenario, Barcelona’s scale becomes a huge competitive advantage again.
The less comfortable scenario is also plausible. Construction is further delayed, borrowing costs or other expenses rise, player costs absorb the extra revenue, or football results reduce broadcasting and prize income. When ordinary profits are close to zero, relatively small setbacks can wipe out the annual surplus.
That is why future reporting should be judged not only on revenue records but also on net profit, net debt, cash generation and the timing of stadium-related repayments.
Verdict: is Barcelona actually poor?
Barcelona are not poor in the sense of lacking earning power or sporting assets. They are financially constrained in the sense that much of that earning power is needed to support high operating costs and substantial financial commitments.
The 2025/26 accounts give reasons for optimism: record €1.06 billion revenue, an ordinary result back around break-even and better control of sporting costs. They also give reasons for caution: an €18 million net loss, negative equity, rising LaLiga-defined net debt and additional borrowing tied to the stadium project.
So the most accurate description is neither a bankrupt giant nor a fully recovered financial powerhouse. Barcelona are a huge club in the middle of a costly financial rebuild. Their long-term future may be bright, but the next stage of the recovery will be measured by cash and sustainable profits rather than by headline revenue alone.
Frequently asked questions
How much revenue did Barcelona make in 2025/26?
Barcelona reported €1.06 billion in ordinary revenue for 2025/26, up €66 million.
How much debt does Barcelona have?
Its LaLiga-defined net debt was €607 million at 30 June 2026; that excludes some Espai Barça financing.
Is Barcelona financially stable now?
Operations have improved, but losses, negative equity and stadium borrowing still constrain cash flow.
Sources and methodology
Figures are in euros for the year ended 30 June 2026 unless stated. Budget and financing approvals differ from realised income and drawn debt.
- FC Barcelona: 2025/26 accounts
- Mundo Deportivo: accounts detail
- FC Barcelona: financing approval
- Reuters: Camp Nou financing
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