Bundesliga posts continued record finances

The Bundesliga’s 18 clubs showed record aggregate revenue for the 11th consecutive season during 2014-15 thanks to an increase of seven per cent to €2.62 billion.

Germany’s top flight has garnered a reputation for being one of Europe’s more well-run and affordable divisions in recent years and all but one of the league’s clubs posted a profit last term prior to tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation.

Christian Seifert, chief executive officer of the Bundesliga, revealed the findings of the league’s latest financial report in Cologne on Wednesday, which also showed an aggregate post-tax profit of around €51m.

That figure was up 31 per cent on the previous year while equity rose above the €1 billion mark for the first time.

Bundesliga clubs, aside from wealthy champions Bayern Munich, often remain vulnerable to bids from English sides in particular following the lucrative Premier League television deals of recent years.

With the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Roberto Firmino both heading to England from the Bundesliga in recent months, Seifert says keeping the German top tier strong is not just down to increasing television revenue.

“It is not enough to say: ‘Now Sky will have to pay a bit more, which should ensure that the English do not get further away from us’,” he said.

“This is convenient, but not sufficient. We need to grow strongly internationally and we need to look at all income categories.”