Borussia Dortmund posted a net loss of €21.7 million for the season just ended after generating a surplus of €6.5 million in the previous period. In the foreword to the accounts, the BVB leadership around their spokesman Carsten Cramer made their stance on that clear: the annual net loss "is not satisfactory for us".
At the same time, the Black and Yellows saw total revenue fall sharply. Revenue dropped by 12.5 per cent from €526 million to €460.5 million. The steepest decline came in media rights, with television money down from €103.4 million to €72.1 million.
Early exits from the cup competitions were the main reason for the deficit. In the Champions League, the team fell well short of the targeted quarter-finals and went out in the play-offs against Atalanta Bergamo. Their DFB Cup campaign also came in below the figures budgeted by those in charge after an early exit against Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16.
Another factor was the accounting method for the Club World Cup from summer 2025. Income from the tournament was spread across two financial years, with the lion’s share of €33.9 million allocated to the 2024/25 season, while only €11.2 million could be recorded for 2025/26.
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BVB want to become less dependent on transfer income
Even so, the club did at least post positive figures on the transfer market, where the result rose by €21.4 million to €59.3 million. Those proceeds, however, were not enough to fully offset the lower income from match operations.
Now the club’s leadership want a fundamental change of course. "Our goal is to make Borussia Dortmund less dependent on transfer income and to strengthen the company’s economic performance over the long term," the annual report states.
Still, BVB’s leadership believe the club remain on a solid financial footing. Cramer stressed that resilience and said: "What is important, however, is this: Borussia Dortmund remain in rude health. Our equity still stands at around €300 million, the equity ratio exceeds 50 per cent, and we have neither taken on new financial debt nor had to make use of overdraft credit lines."