Sports
Football: Lyon lost €36.5 million in the 2019/20 financial year
Due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, Lyon could not count a profit, but rather, a loss.
French football club, Olympique Lyonnais, said its finances have been ‘hard hit’ by the COVID-19 public health crisis, as it announced a loss of €36.5 million (US$42.6 million) for the 2019/20 financial year, compared to a profit of €6.2 million (US$7.2 million) the previous season.
The revenue of the French club in the 2018/19 season was up 19% at the end of March 2019, rising 15% to a first-half record of €61.8 million in the six months to 31 December 2019. This year, there was a setback in their revenue due to the pandemic, which saw their accounts stand at €271.6 million (US$317 million) as of 30th June 2020.
Ticketing revenue fell from €41.8 million (US$48.7 million) to €35.5 million (US$41.4 million) – a 15.1% decline, as Lyon was unable to play six home games following the premature end of the 2019/20 Ligue 1 season on 13 March. This meant the team finished in seventh place, outside of the qualification places for Uefa’s European club competitions.
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Media rights totaled €97.6 million in the 2019/20 (compared to €122.0 million in 2018/19); a result of the premature end to the 2019/20 Ligue 1 season, after the 28th matchdays impacted domestic media rights in two ways
- Canal+ and BeIN paid only part of their broadcasting rights for the season to the LFP
- OL’s 7th place position in Ligue 1 became its final standing (vs 3rd place at the end of the previous season)
- Lyon’s main revenue stream for the 2019/20 campaign was media rights.
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Sponsoring/advertising revenue suffered from the mid-March business shutdown and totaled €27.2 million with a decline of €4.2million and a fall of -13% when compared to €31.3 million in the 2018/19 season. Brand-related revenue was down with a decline of €2.4million, to €13.6 million (US$15.8 million).
Revenue from the Events business totaled €6.7 million over the full year, down 30% from €9.7 million in 2018/19. In accordance with the government’s measures prohibiting large gatherings, the Group was forced to cancel all of the summer events scheduled for Groupama Stadium, in particular, the first “Felyn” music festival, now postponed to 18 & 19 June 2021.
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OL Groupe incurred an operating loss of €18.4 million in 2019/20 (vs a profit of €22.2 million in 2018/19). The change reflected an increase in Net depreciation, amortization, and provisions (€76.2 million in 2019/20 vs €52.3 million in 2018/19), as a result of trading at the start and in the middle of the season (amortization of player registrations).
Operating profit/loss in 2019/20 included exceptional assistance of €12.9 million, recognized as “Other ordinary income and expenses” and deriving from the government-guaranteed loan received by the LFP. This is equivalent to the balance of LFP media rights the Club did not receive.
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Net financial expense totaled €17.9 million (vs €14.0 million in 2018/19), tied principally to the non-recourse financing of player registration receivables implemented during the financial year. The pre-tax loss is €36.3 million in 2019/20. The net loss (Group share) was €36.5 million, against a net profit (Group share) of €6.2 million in 2018/19.
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However, despite the ongoing financial impact of COVID 19, Lyon said,
“OL remains confident in its ability to achieve the objectives set for the period from now until 2023/24, as presented last February; i.e. total revenue of €420-440 million (including player trading, according to the API as indicated above), and EBITDA in excess of €100 million, assuming the current public health crisis is resolved in the short term. This is based on our “full entertainment” growth strategy oriented around our core business – football – and also on the development, diversification, and recurrent nature of our “Events” programming, related in particular to the new arena project.”
Sports
Formula One announces positive Q1 revenues for 2021
Formula One has announced positive Q1 revenues for 2021 as it bounces back from the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Liberty Media Corporation, Formula One’s parent company, announced positive first-quarter reports for 2021 as Formula One is on the road to recovery following the financial impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic.
In the first quarter of 2020, Formula One was hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as there were no races held within that period due to the onset of COVID-19 which led to a record-breaking loss of $386 million for the first three months of the year.
However, F1 had something to smile about at the end of Q1 2021 as they held an event (Bahrain Grand Prix) on March 28 which significantly boosted their first-quarter revenue for 2021.
The Formula One Group announced an overall revenue of $180 million for Q1 2021, an increase of $141 million compared to $39million generated in the same period last year.
Liberty Media said in the report:
“During the three months ended March 31, 2021, F1 began reclassifying certain components previously reported in Other F1 revenue into Primary F1 revenue to better align with the way it currently evaluates the business.”
In addition, broadcasting revenue was renamed media rights revenue. The more significant components that were reclassified into Primary F1 revenue include fees for F1 TV subscriptions, fees for licensing commercial rights for Formula 2 and Formula 3 races, fees for the origination and support of program footage, fees for broadcast rights for Formula 2 and Formula 3 races and fees for advertising rights on Formula 1’s digital platforms.”
Following the reclassification, Other F1 revenue is primarily comprised of freight and hospitality revenue. $4 million of Other F1 revenue was reclassified as Primary F1 revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2020 to conform to the current period presentation. The impact of the revenue reclassification for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2020 can be found in Schedule 3 of this press release.”
Formula One now classifies its revenue into ‘Primary Revenue’ and ‘Other Revenue’. The primary revenue will include fees for F1 TV subscriptions, fees for licensing commercial rights, fees for advertising rights on Formula 1’s digital platforms amongst the rest. While the other revenue includes freight and hospitality revenue.
For the primary revenue, it reported a revenue of $159 million an increase of a staggering $142 million (835%) compared to $17 million for the corresponding period of 2020. While for other revenue, there was a 5% decrease from $21 million for Q1 2021 Q1 to $20 million for Q1 2021.
In addition, Formula One paid a total sum of $44 million as team payments in the first quarter of 2021 compared to nothing being paid in the corresponding period of 2020.
Formula One expects the fans to be in attendance in the first half of the 2021 season. “Fan attendance continues to be assessed by relevant government authorities on a race-by-race basis.” While decisions are pending for most events, Formula 1 expects fans to be in attendance in varying capacities at certain events in the first half of the 2021 season, with increasing numbers of fans at events as the season progresses.
Sports
Jose Mourinho announced as Roma’s new head coach
Top Italian football club, AS Roma, has appointed Jose Mourinho as its new head coach for 2021/2022 season.
Former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Jose Mourinho has reached an agreement with AS Roma to become the club’s Head Coach for the 2021/22 campaign.
The Portuguese manager who was sacked in April after just seven months in charge due to Tottenham Hotspur’s poor performance has agreed to a three-year contract with AS Roma which will run till June 2024.
In the early hours of today, AS Roma announced that their current manager, Paulo Fonseca, would leave the club at the end of the current season. Hours later, they announced their agreement with Mourinho.
What Jose Mourinho said about the new appointment
“Thank you to the Friedkin family for choosing me to lead this great club and to be part of their vision,” Mourinho said.
“After meetings with the ownership and Tiago Pinto, I immediately understood the full extent of their ambitions for AS Roma. It is the same ambition and drive that has always motivated me and together we want to build a winning project over the upcoming years.
The incredible passion of the Roma fans convinced me to accept the job and I cannot wait to start next season.
In the meantime, I wish Paulo Fonseca all the best and I hope the media appreciate that I will only speak further in due course. Daje Roma!” he added.
This is Jose Mourinho’s second spell in Serie A after his famous two seasons spent in Inter.
What Roma bosses are saying about Mourinho’s appointment
In welcoming the Portuguese coach to the team, club president Dan Friedkin and vice-president Ryan Friedkin said:
“We are thrilled and delighted to welcome José Mourinho into the AS Roma family.
A great champion who has won trophies at every level, José will provide tremendous leadership and experience to our ambitious project.
The appointment of José is a huge step in building a long-term and consistent winning culture throughout the club.”
Tiago Pinto, Roma’s General Manager (Football) also pitched in, saying:
“When José became available, we immediately jumped at the chance to speak with one of the greatest managers of all time. We were blown away by José’s desire to win and his passion for the game: no matter how many trophies he has won, his primary focus is always on the next one. He possesses the knowledge, experience and leadership to compete at all levels.
We know that in order to build a successful sporting project it takes time, patience and the right people in the right positions. We are supremely confident that José will be the perfect coach for our project, for both our immediate and long-term future.
Together with the vision and ambition of Dan and Ryan Friedkin, we will build the foundations of a new AS Roma.”
In case you missed it
Jose Mourinho was sacked 17 months into a three-and-a-half-year contract, after which he got a £16m compensation fee for being relieved of his managerial duties early in his contract.
