Barcelona predict €1b income this season

Barcelona predict they will become the first football club to record €1 billion in revenue this season. (AFP/PAU BARRENA)

According to figures released ahead of the general meeting of their "socios" (supporters, shareholders) scheduled for Oct 6, Barca expect a revenue of €1.047 billion (US$1.16 billion) in the fiscal campaign just started, which is six per cent more than last season when the club generated €990 million.

"It's an historic record for a sports club, it's better than the NBA and NFL franchises and other football clubs," Barcelona managing director Oscar Grau told a news conference.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu had set a strategic goal of being the first outfit to reach the one billion euro mark by the end of his presidency in 2021.

Main sporting rival Real Madrid, president Florentino Perez targetted a similar goal.

In the projected budget presented by Barca, the expenses amount to €1.007 billion for a net profit after tax of €11 million.

Grau explained that "one of the club's challenges" was to "reduce the payroll" of its professional athletes.

In 2019-2020, spending on sports salaries is expected to fall by three per cent, from €525 million to €507 million.

The club has budgeted €73 million to finance the remodelling of Camp Nou and its surroundings, a vast project called "Espai Barca".

Grau, who said in 2018 he was hopeful to find a title sponsor for the project by the end of the first half of 2019, said the club was continuing its research and studying alternative forms of financing.

"We want to make a good deal, we do not want to sell, so we are looking for a financial restructuring of Espai Barca so that the project does not stop," said Grau.

Regarding the accounts for the 2018-2019 financial year, the treasurer Enrique Tombas confirmed the figures mentioned during the summer by the club: €990 million of turnover, €973 million of expenses and a profit after tax of €5 million.