Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund

One Step Beyond

Following Bayern Munich’s shock defeat to Mainz last weekend, they have been overtaken by Borussia Dortmund, who now lead the Bundesliga. Although second place would be regarded as a fine achievement by most clubs, this is certainly not the case for Bayern, who are seemingly in crisis mode.

Questions are being asked about their new manager Thomas Tuchel, who only replaced Julian Nagelsmann last month, and also chief executive Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.

For some context, Bayern have won the Bundesliga for the last 10 years in a row, so anything other than victory would be regarded as a failure. The last time that they did not win the title was back in the 2011/12 season, when they were beaten by Dortmund.

Part of the reason for Bayern’s imperious record over the last decade is their financial power, so I thought it might be quite interesting to see how Dortmund compare to the Bavarian giants off the pitch.

Overview 2022

In 2021/22 Bayern reported a €17m pre-tax profit in contrast to Dortmund’s €33m loss, mainly because their revenue is significantly higher than their rivals, partially offset by Dortmund’s better profit from player sales. Bayern’s cost base is also much higher.

As Jan-Christian Dreesen, Bayern’s finance director, observed, “This is a strong result. Hardly any other top European club has been able to consistently report profits like FC Bayern, despite the pandemic over the past three years.”

Profit/(Loss) before Tax

In fact, Bayern have now been profitable for an amazing 30 years in a row, including €361m in the last decade alone. Profits have been lower in the last three seasons, due to COVID restrictions, but other clubs would still be envious of their results.

Dortmund had also made money for nine consecutive seasons up to 2019, though they have posted losses in each of the past three years, partly due to the impact of the pandemic, partly as they strive to compete Bayern. Their losses in this period added up to €153m, reducing their overall profit since 2013 to only €27m, less than a tenth of their rivals.