LaLiga records strong revenue and attendance growth

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Image Credit: Shutterstock - Christian Bertrand

La Liga has reported its highest revenue since the pandemic, pushing through the €5bn barrier ($8.76bn AUD).

Across the 2023/24 season, La Liga recorded a total standardized revenue of €5.049bn ($8.84bn AUD), a 3.2% increase upon the 2022/23 season. However, the 23/24 season is still shy of the pre-pandemic 2019/20 season record revenue of €5.065bn ($8.87bn AUD).

Of La Liga’s revenue streams, broadcast income was the most influential – totaling $2.64bn AUD. The second largest source of revenue was commercial income, surpassing the organisation’s goal of over one billion euros for the second year in a row – totaling $2.25bn AUD. La Liga contributed its strong commercial growth to flourishing new sponsorships and licensing agreements, as well as the continuing popularity of the league overseas.

However, La Liga has credited the post-pandemic high total revenue due to the increase in matchday income from record attendances.

Throughout the 2023/24 season, 16 million fans lined stadium seats across Spain, contributing to an average stadium occupancy rate of 75.4%. An increase upon the previous season’s 72.5% average occupancy rate.

Due to this, matchday revenue grew 5% year-on-year to $1.25bn AUD in the 2023/24 season, culminating in a 25% increase over the past five seasons.

La Liga signified the effect of affordable ticket prices, stadium expansions and projects which improved facilities and amenities as crucial in inspiring more fans to come to games.

Furthermore, the league predicts that the 2024/25 season will welcome even more spectators, projecting 78% average occupancy across stadiums and nearly 18 million in attendance.

Among the clubs, members reduced their losses by approximately $493m AUD in 2023/24 from 2022/23, recording aggregate losses of $388m in 2023/24 and $881m in the prior season.

La Liga also projected that aggregate losses would fall even further in 2024/25, to $303m.

Interestingly, senior corporate net debt rose in 2023/24 to $2.34bn however, net equity remained healthy at $3.9bn – highlighting the stability of the league’s long-economic model, which continues to abide by Financial Fair Play.

Due to its positive year, continuing upwards revenue trends across matchday and commercial sectors and the successes of the Boost LaLiga strategy , La Liga projects that the organisation is on its way to breaking even under its Financial Fair Play criteria later in the year.

The Spanish competition’s record revenue raising 2023/24 season echoes that of the Bundesliga, announced earlier in the year.

Like LaLiga, the Bundesliga achieved soaring ticket sales, accruing 20.74 million tickets across the top two divisions of German football in 2023/24 – an increase of almost one million tickets from the 2022/23 season. These impressive results contribute to the Bundesliga’s highest average number of tickets sold, averaging 33,885 tickets per game.

Additionally, both clubs’ largest source of revenue was through media rights and broadcasting.

Such results from two of the big five European leagues could signify that football across the continent is in a healthy place after the COVID-19 pandemic and beginning to thrive once more.

However, until the remaining three big five leagues (Serie A, Ligue 1, EPL) and the majority of the continent’s competitions reveal their revenue reports for the 2023/24 season it is too early to determine if the trends are the same across the whole of Europe.

 

 

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Theo Fotopoulos outlines vision for Canberra United’s future

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Image Credit: Lukas Coch

Professional football in the nation’s capital has entered a new era with Australian Sports Group (ASG) officially taking over Canberra United ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Led by Chairman Morris McAllister and CEO Theo Fotopoulos, ASG takes over a club whose future has been uncertain in recent years. Now, the focus has shifted from survival to building a sustainable future for football in Canberra.

Speaking to Soccerscene, Fotopoulos discussed why ASG chose to invest in Canberra United, the importance of preserving the club’s identity, and the roadmap for the chapter ahead for football in the nation’s capital.

Why Canberra?

The investment in Canberra United comes at an important time for the club. The beginning of the 2026/27 A-League Women season is just around the corner, and the prospect of an A-League Men side is drawing closer. Asked why ASG chose to invest in Canberra United and Canberra itself, Fotopoulos’ answer was simple.

“Canberra has stacks of football culture. It is a football city,” Fotopoulos said.

Speaking on the decision to retain the name Canberra United and not undertake a rebrand, Fotopoulos pointed to the club’s history and connection to the community.

“We retained the name, Canberra United, because of the history and the association. We felt there were more positives to retain the name,” Fotopoulos said.

The new ownership also wants supporters to play an active role in shaping the club’s future.

“The fans will be involved in making decisions,” Fotopoulos said.

Fotopoulos revealed that the club is already consulting with fans on the introduction of a nickname and is looking at developing a playing kit that is designed by the fans.

While Canberra offers a unique opportunity for professional football, Fotopoulos acknowledged the club will still compete for supporters’ attention alongside established sporting organisations such as the Canberra Raiders and ACT Brumbies.

Rather than viewing that as a disadvantage, he believes Canberra’s appetite for sport presents an opportunity to grow the club’s presence in the capital.
“It is something that allows us to accelerate the building of the brand in Canberra, Canberrans really love their sports,” Fotopoulos said.

 

The road ahead

The 2026/27 Ninja A-League season kicks off in October, and the priority for Fotopoulos and ASG at Canberra United is to ensure that Canberra is ready to compete not only next season, but sustainably for the years ahead.

“For us, it’s really stabilisation for the women’s. Build that and build the infrastructure around the women then translate that into an additional structure for the men’s program,” Fotopoulos said.

Infrastructure also forms a key pillar of ASG’s long-term vision. Fotopoulos said securing a long-term home at McKellar Park and improving football facilities across Canberra would play an important role in supporting future growth.

He believes better facilities will benefit not only Canberra United but football throughout the ACT and surrounding region.

Importantly, the takeover of the club included an option to introduce a team into the A-League Men’s competition from the 2028/29 season, which is something that ASG intends to pursue.

When speaking about the future of the proposed senior men’s side, Fotopoulos pointed to the quality within and around the organisation that will ensure its introduction.

“We’re quietly confident, the football department is very positive. There are a lot of quality people, both in Canberra and outside of Canberra, that have indicated interest in being part of the elite pathways academy structures that will be the foundation for a new A-League men’s team,” Fotopoulos said.

 

More than a football club

For Fotopoulos and ASG, this investment is about more than just owning and running a football club. The focus extends beyond results on the field to developing an integrated football structure and greater cohesion across the game.

In order to support a strong senior men’s and women’s side, Fotopoulos outlined the importance of establishing strong junior pathways for young players growing up in Canberra.

“One of the other big picture objectives is to finally get to establishing a permanent pathway,” Fotopoulos said.

Fotopoulos believes that these pathways will ensure long-term stability for Canberra United and help form the foundation of both senior playing groups for years to come.

However, it wasn’t just an investment in football in Canberra. It was a vote of confidence for women’s football in Canberra in particular.

While excitement is building around a potential expansion into the A-League Men, Fotopoulos believes that the current moment represents an even greater opportunity for the women’s game.

“If I was to look at any other time in history, this is probably the strongest time to invest in women’s football,” Fotopoulos said.

 

FIFPRO demands governance reform after FIFA’s FFE failure

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While FIFA cancelled plans to move forward with FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), FIFPRO are demanding change at the top of football’s global governing body.

‘Abuse of power’

The plan to sell minority stakes in future FIFA competitions to private investors brought intense criticism from fans across the world.

Governing bodies including UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) and the AFC (Asia) rallied against FFE and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, leading to a crisis meeting in Morocco to determine Infantino’s seemingly untenable position at the head of world football governance.

The meeting, however, confirmed Infantino will remain as FIFA President going forward – a decision which has since prompted FIFPRO to make their stance clear: governance reform is a must.

“The withdrawal of FFE was inevitable. But withdrawing the proposal does not erase what it revealed,” the organisation said via an official statement on the FIFPRO website.

“A plan capable of permanently altering the ownership and governance of the FIFA World Cup, and commercialising the competitions built by generations of players, was conceived in secrecy, negotiated behind closed doors and brought to the brink of agreement before the FIFA Council, the Member Associations, players and football’s recognised stakeholders even knew it existed.”

“That is not merely a governance failure. It is a profound abuse of presidential power.”

 

How to navigate governance post-FFE

As reiterated by FIFPRO, the FFE controversy arrived a mere few weeks after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between FIFA and the player’s union marked an optimistic step to a more collaborative future.

But what was previously a step in the right direction, now seems an insufficient policy to protect players – and the wider landscape of world football – from future unilateral decisions at the top.

FIFPRO’s demands – agreed upon by the Presidents of all FIFPRO regional divisions across Africa, Asia/Oceania, Europe, South America and Central & North America – include measures such as:

  • Using the Global Social Dialogue Platform as fundamental part of FIFA’s governance
  • Engagement with stakeholders over future decisions affecting the professional game
  • Voting rights for professional football’s stakeholders on the FIFA Council
  • Structural reforms to prevent future unilateral decisions

The message from FIFPRO is therefore clear. Now is not the time to rest on criticism; stakeholders in the professional game must encourage action and reform.

“These reforms are now indespensable. But they are the responsibility of the future, not an absolution of the past,” FIFPRO continued via their official statement.

“The players did not create this crisis. They will insist that football emerges from it with stronger institutions, stronger safeguards and leadership worthy of the trust the game demands.”

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