AS Roma Finances 2023/24

Espresso

Roma’s 2023/24 accounts covered a season when they finished sixth in Serie A for the third year in a row, which meant that they once again failed to qualify for the money-spinning Champions League.

On the plus side, they reached the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they were defeated by Bayer Leverkusen, though they were beaten by local rivals Lazio in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.

Changes

This was Roma’s fourth season under the ownership of The Friedkin Group, who purchased the club from fellow American James Pallotta in August 2020.

In this period, there has been a fair degree of change at Roma, including five head coaches. In May 2021 Paulo Fonseca was replaced by José Mourinho, who was dismissed in January 2024, despite taking the club to two European finals.

The “special one” was succeeded by club legend Daniele De Rossi, but he was also fired after a poor start to the current season. However, things did not improve under Croatian Ivan Juric, so his stint in the hot seat lasted less than two months.

That ushered in the return of veteran manager Claudio Ranieri, who took charge of the Giallorossi for the third time.

There has also been movement at a senior level off the pitch, as sporting director Tiago Pinto left by mutual consent in September, replaced by Florent Ghisolfi, who had previously held the same role at French clubs Nice and Lens.

In addition, chief executive Lina Souloukou resigned the same month, following much unrest after the sacking of fan favourite De Rossi. She has been replaced on an interim basis by Ryan Friedkin, son of club president Dan Friedkin.

League Position

Despite all the upheaval, Roma have been the model of consistency in the league, finishing in 6th place in four of the last six seasons (the other two were 5th and 7th). That’s not too bad at all, but it does actually represent a decline in performance, as Roma had finished between 2nd and 3rd in the preceding five seasons.

Importantly, this means that Roma have missed out on qualifying for the lucrative Champions League in recent years, which has placed a strain on their finances. As De Rossi said before he exited stage left, “We are a team that needs to battle for the Champions League. That’s our objective. We’re starting to get a bit tired of always coming sixth.”

So let’s take a look at the impact of these near misses on Roma’s finances.

Profit/(Loss) 2023/24

Roma’s pre-tax loss reduced by €23m from €99m to €76m, which is the second year in a row that the bottom line has improved, but this still shows a sizeable deficit. The much lower losses were needed to comply with the FFP settlement agreement signed with UEFA.

Revenue rose €30m (13%) from €224m to €254m, a new club record, though this was partially offset by costs also increasing by €15m (4%) from €348m to €363m. There was a significant reduction in net interest payable, which decreased by €17m (60%) from €28m to €11m.

Profit from player sales almost halved from €47m to €24m, but other income from player management was up €15m from €6m to €21m.

The loss after tax also dropped from €103m to €81m.

Roma’s revenue increase was driven by commercial, which shot up €31m (49%) from €62m to €93m, while match day rose €6m (13%) from €49m to €55m. However, broadcasting fell €5m (5%) from €109m to €104m and player loans more than halved from €3.4m to €1.6m.

As a technical aside, this definition of Roma’s €254m revenue is different to the one used in the club accounts of €302m, which also included the €25m gain on player sales, €21m other income from player management and €2m change in inventory. This increased by €25m (9%) from the prior year’s €277m.

Roma’s wage bill increased by €29m (17%) from €173m to €202m, but player amortisation fell €18m (32%) from €56m to €38m. Depreciation rose €1m (17%) from €5m to €6m, while other expenses were up €2m (2%) from €115m to €117m.

Despite the improvement, Roma’s €76m pre-tax loss was still the second worst result in Serie A last season, only surpassed by Juventus’ huge €196m deficit. In stark contrast, a few clubs generated chunky profits, especially Napoli €91m, Lazio €41m, Atalanta €21m and Milan €12m.