Bayern Munich decided to show off their financial might by signing Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur for a whopping figure of over £100 million, but the way they pulled it off proves why they have the best management among the elite European clubs.
It wasn’t at all easy for Bayern to get the deal done. They were stuck in negotiations with the notorious Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy for a long time, before being able to agree a fee for the Englishman. There was a small hiccup just as Kane was about to travel to Munich for his medical, before Bayern resolved that by paying Tottenham what they wanted for him.
What did Uli Hoeness say about Harry Kane signing?
They even did all this without needing help from any banks, sponsors or anyone else to give them an extra boost in finances for the move. Normally, whenever a team decides to plash the cash on signing a player for this kind of a fee, they are forced to take some loans from banks. That is because a lot of teams do not have large chunk of money lying around in their own accounts, forcing them to take out loans to pay the other club for the acquisition of a player.
However, Bayern made a surprising revelation about this, as their honorary president Uli Hoeness said: “We paid for the transfer of Harry Kane without taking a loan. It was always known that our deposit account is well-filled.”
Bayern's Uli Hoeneß: "We paid for the transfer of Harry Kane without taking a loan". 🔴🇩🇪 #FCBayern
"It was always known that our deposit account is well-filled", he told Sport Bild. pic.twitter.com/1Q8Fkg3X49
Basically, Hoeness has just revealed that Bayern was able to pay the major fee for Kane’s signing from the excess money that remained in their account and did not have to ask for loans from anyone else.
This is a rather extraordinary thing in 2023, when many top clubs are struggling to keep up enough money in their accounts to fund major transfers without having to take a loan or having to sell players for that. It almost seems impossible, but their possible way of paying for Kane’s transfer without taking loans could be a reward for years of hard work into maintaining their accounts.
With the Covid-19 pandemic also having a significant impact on the revenue of major clubs, Bayern are one of the rare clubs to avoid losses or debts.
How exactly did Bayern get the finances for the Kane deal?
For example, last year, Manchester United announced a net loss of £115. 5 million for the 2021-22 season. And that their debt had risen to £514.9 million. Bayern’s supervisory board chairman Herbert Hainer confirmed last year that his side was not under any kind of debt, saying: “FC Bayern is completely debt-free, and what’s more: we own 100% of the Allianz Arena and the FC Bayern Campus; everything is paid off.”
In fact, Bayern’s CFO (Chief Financial Offer) also confirmed that Bayern have been profitable through the first three years of the pandemic in a statement last year.
He said: “This is a strong result. There is hardly any other top European club that, like FC Bayern, has been able to report consistent profits over the past three years despite the pandemic. That mainly has to do with FC Bayern’s DNA: we never spend more than we earn. All of our employees played their part in the successful conclusion of the past financial year.”
International comparison: Only Bayern and Real Madrid kept making profit during the pandemic years pic.twitter.com/syZUvRgrsF
Last year, Bayern also reported a net profit of €12.7 million, being among the two major clubs in Europe alongside Real Madrid to actually record a profit for the 21/22 season. After that, it was reported earlier this year that Bayern were set to report a record-setting revenue of €835 million for the 2022/23 season, a 25% increase from the previous campaign.
When it comes to their sources of income, Bayern bagged a major deal earlier this year when they announced a 10-year contract extension with primary sponsor, Allianz, who also sponsor their stadium. The former CEO Oliver Kahn spoke about this deal and said: “FC Bayern places great value on reliable, continual partnerships. We’re therefore very happy to continue our cooperation with Allianz. We can look back on a joint success story of over 20 years, to which we want to add more chapters with new and innovative ideas.”
The Bavarians are reportedly earning a yearly amount of €13 million, which starts from the 2023/24 season. On top of this, Bayern also have over 295,000 official members. The fee structure for membership goes something like this: a full membership for adults aged from 26 up to 64 cost €60 per season, while it is decreased for children, teenagers up to 17 years, senior citizens over 65 and disabled persons.
All the new members need to pay a one-time €3 joining fee. So it’s safe to assume that Bayern bag close to €10 million per year based on their income from said memberships as well. Obviously, they also earn an impressive amount of money from TV revenue from Bundesliga as well and are rumoured to have earned €95 million from TV revenue for the 2022/23 season.
Bayern’s policy of never spending more than what they earn has helped them stay profitable through the terrors of Covid-19 and earn higher revenue than some other European elites. Depending on their rumoured record-revenue earning from last season, the club generated enough money to spend over £100 million to sign Kane from Tottenham.
