Werder makes a loss: risk "pays off in sporting terms"
Bundesliga soccer club Werder Bremen has closed its first season after regaining promotion with a loss of 3.8 million euros. This was announced on Sunday by Klaus Filbry, Managing Director of the spin-off professional soccer company Werder Bremen GmbH & Co KG aA, at the parent club's general meeting.
"After promotion, we were faced with the question of whether we wanted to take a manageable financial risk in favor of the sporting goal, given our necessary objectives - remaining in the Bundesliga and economic stability. That's what we did. And that has paid off in sporting terms," said Filbry.
Bremen finished 13th in the Bundesliga last season and managed to avoid relegation. In previous years, they had come under great economic pressure due to the coronavirus crisis, relegation from the Bundesliga in 2021 and some lost transfer income. At the meeting, Filbry provided a detailed breakdown of how the Bundesliga relegation and return affected the figures for the 2022/23 financial year.
There was a significant increase in revenue (from 92.8 to 115.3 million euros), sponsorship (from 17.3 to 30.7 million) and media income (from 22.6 to 38.2 million) as a result of promotion to the first division. But: "In terms of personnel expenses, we have an increase of 13.4 million euros due to the promotion. This is mainly due to the salaries of the Bundesliga team," explained Filbry.
Werder had largely kept the promotion squad together in the summer of 2022 and strengthened it with first-division professionals such as Jens Stage, Niklas Stark and Amos Pieper. In contrast, there was hardly any transfer income.
That only changed this summer with the sales of Niclas Füllkrug, Ilia Gruev and Niklas Schmidt. "In light of the transfer income already generated in the current 2023/24 financial year, we are confident that we will close this financial year with a positive result again that at least makes up for the loss of the past financial year," said Filbry.
Werder Bremen's decision to take a financial risk by investing in their Bundesliga squad after promotion has proved beneficial in sporting terms, as they managed to secure a 13th-place finish in the league. Despite an increase in personnel expenses due to higher salaries for the Bundesliga team, the club's revenue and sponsorship significantly increased as a result of promotion.
Source: www.dpa.com
