Real Madrid become first club in sporting history to record €1.22 billion in revenue in 2025-26 despite trophyless season: How did they do it?

Real Madrid generated a record €1.221 billion in 2025-26 despite a trophy-less season, an ambitious Bernabéu renovation and hefty spending on star players. Real Madrid ended the 2025-26 season without a major trophy, but their finances tell a completely different story. The club generated operating income of 1.221 billion euros ($1.42 billion), becoming the first organization in the history of the sport to surpass the 1.2 billion euro mark. The record comes despite an ambitious renovation of the Santiago Bernabéu, considerable investment in star players and a campaign without trophies. So how did Madrid manage to achieve a financial milestone that no other sporting organization has achieved, and what role did a refurbished stadium, lucrative sponsorships and their expanding commercial business play?

Real Madrid’s record revenue comes with one important footnote

Real Madrid’s board of directors approved the financial statements for the 2025–26 financial year on 28 July 2026, reporting operating revenues of €1,221.3 million (US$1.42 billion), a 3.1% increase on the previous year and the club’s third consecutive annual revenue record.The achievement is significant, especially as the club achieved it without winning a major trophy during the season. Real Madrid’s operating income does not include player transfer fees, distinguishing this figure from financial indicators that include income generated by the sale of footballers.However, there is an accounting detail worth understanding before celebrating this milestone. The disclosed total includes €23.5 million ($27.3 million) recognized through the reversal of a financial provision related to a European Commission case settled the previous year. Stripping that amount would bring operating revenue to around €1.198 billion ($1.39 billion), just below the all-time mark, although Madrid would still rank comfortably among the world’s top-grossing sports organisations.

Pope Leo XIV met with Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez during a meeting with the diocesan community at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, June 8, 2026. Elisabetta Trevisan/Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITOR – THIS IMAGE PROVIDED BY PARTY A THIRD.

The club also reported record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of €287 million ($333.4 million), up 18% year-on-year.The majority of reported revenue comes from three main businesses: marketing and commercial activities, stadium operations and broadcasting and competitions. Together, they show how Madrid have built a financial model capable of generating huge revenues even when the trophies don’t arrive.

The Bernabéu has become a major revenue driver, but rebuilding remains expensive

The renovated Santiago Bernabéu contributed 363 million euros ($421.7 million) in 2025-26, an 11% increase from the previous season and more than double the stadium’s revenue generated before the redevelopment.Matchday operations, premium hospitality, in-stadium experiences and personal seat licenses have helped expand the venue’s earning potential. These licenses give fans the right to purchase season tickets over the next three decades, allowing Madrid to generate income from a long-term relationship with their customers, rather than relying solely on match-by-match sales.

FILE – Workers prepare the field at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium before the NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Commanders in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano, File)

The redevelopment also transformed the stadium itself with features such as a retractable roof, a 360-degree video scoreboard, and an underground storage system on the field that preserves parts of the playing surface when other events are held on site. These engineering projects, along with luxury dining facilities and other finishing touches, brought the cumulative cost of the renovation to €1.407 billion (US$1.63 billion) by the end of 2025–2026, compared to the original plan of €575 million (US$667.9 million) in 2018.Madrid spent €184 million ($213.7 million) completing the works during the last financial year, including mandatory soundproofing upgrades. Major music concerts have remained on hold since late 2024 after complaints about noise from the neighborhood and restrictions requiring sound levels to remain within 55 decibels, forcing scheduled performances by artists including Aitana and Lola Índigo to move to alternative venues.

Pope Leo XIV arrives for a meeting with the diocesan community at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

The club also faced a setback over two proposed nearby parking facilities after Spain’s highest court blocked the plans, removing another potential source of long-term income for the stadium. Madrid officials played down the financial implications, saying the parking project would not materially change the club’s overall position.Nevertheless, the financing of the stadium remains substantial, with approximately €1.1 billion ($1.28 billion) in outstanding project debt committed through three long-term fixed-rate loans concluded in 2019, 2021 and 2023. Madrid accounts for this financing separately from its normal operating position, which leaves a reported day-to-day net debt of approximately €10.9 million.With annual debt repayments of around €60 million ($69.7 million), the stadium must continue to generate significant revenue, although Madrid expects its upgraded facilities to remain more profitable than the old ground.

Adidas, Emirates and HP help boost commercial revenue

Marketing revenue reached €539 million ($626.1 million) in 2025–26, representing a 6% annual increase and around 82% growth from the club’s baseline prior to the 2018–19 renovation.The sponsorship portfolio is anchored by three major deals that are estimated to generate between €290 million and €300 million ($337.1 million to $348.7 million) annually. Adidas supplies the kit under a contract worth around €120 million (US$139.4 million) per year, while Emirates pays an estimated €100 million (US$116.2 million) per year as the main shirt sponsor and HP contributes an estimated €70–80 million (US$81.5 million–US$92.9 million) through its sleeve partnership.The timing of the renewals strengthened this commercial foundation. Emirates extended their deal on 9 June 2026, securing the front of the shirt until 2031, while Adidas renewed their kit partnership on 10 June, extending the relationship until 2034. HP’s multi-year deal, signed on 2 February 2024, marked the first time in Madrid’s 121-year history of the game that a sponsor’s logo has appeared on the sponsor’s sleeve.The remaining marketing income comes from global merchandising and licensing, estimated at €140 million to €150 million ($162.6 million–$174.3 million), and another €90 million to €110 million ($104.5 million–$127.8 million) from regional and secondary partners.Official shirts, training gear, the Bernabéu megastore, online sales and more than 30 corporate partners help Madrid cash in on their global popularity beyond the weekly TV audience. This commercial reach is increasingly important as the club seeks to maximize the value of its brand independent of results on the pitch.

Madrid are spending big on the squad without losing sight of sustainability

The sales record did not stop Madrid from investing in the team and its infrastructure. The club committed €161 million ($187.1 million) directly to new players in 2025–26, while total expenditure on sporting personnel, including wages and annual bookkeeping costs for transfer fees, increased from €540 million ($627.2 million) in 2018–19 to €618 million ($717.8 million).Despite this increase, player wages and transfer amortization accounted for around 46% of total revenue, remaining below the 50% threshold the club considers a useful benchmark for financial discipline. Madrid also invested €192 million ($222.9 million) in equipment, technology and infrastructure during the financial year, reinforcing a commitment to spending beyond the senior squad.As a member-owned club, Madrid does not operate as a privately owned team whose outside billionaire owners can collect dividends from the business. Its financial model instead funnels available surpluses back into football operations, stadium development and other club projects, although the cost of maintaining both the team and the Bernabéu means strong revenues must be maintained.

The Real Madrid Foundation extends the club’s reach beyond football

Not all of Madrid’s wider activities are designed to generate commercial revenue, with the Real Madrid Foundation running social and educational programs through football and basketball around the world.The foundation, which will celebrate 28 years of activity in 2025, operates more than 425 community sports schools in 102 countries and reports a global reach approaching two million people. Its programs reach more than 30,000 vulnerable youth with more than 14,000 beneficiaries across America, while the 2025-26 season saw the highest participation in the nation’s disability programs, including sensory schools and wheelchair basketball clinics.The foundation operates through a combination of corporate partnerships, fundraising events, coaching programs, in-kind donations and financial support from the club. Its annual funding is estimated at €18–22 million (US$20.9–25.5 million), with around €15–16 million (US$17.4–18.6 million) spent on ongoing social projects in 2025–26.Partners including Endesa, HSBC, UPS, GSK, Corpay and El Corte Inglés support specific programmes, while the annual Corazón Classic Match brings legends back to the Bernabéu to raise money through tickets, broadcasts and merchandise. The foundation also uses coaching clinics and educational congresses to raise income for projects that subsidize free sports schools in less affluent regions.During the last season, the programs supported more than 1,515 children in the Middle East and more than 3,200 in Asia Pacific, including India, while adapted sports projects in Spain reached more than 700 beneficiaries. Partnerships with HP and Abbott have also supported digital literacy, gender inclusion, health monitoring and nutrition initiatives, particularly in India and Indonesia.The foundation’s extraordinary work included a club donation of €1 million ($1.16 million) for earthquake relief in Venezuela in June 2026, supplemented by a further €1 million from President Florentino Pérez personally, bringing the reported contribution to €2 million ($2.32 million). In September, the club also formalized a partnership with Madrid’s Ministry of Health to support people affected by rare diseases, in particular epidermolysis bullosa, commonly known as Butterfly Skin.Madrid’s financial success goes beyond the headline revenue figure and supports a major sporting operation, an increasingly commercial stadium and a major social programme. The club has crossed a historic threshold, but maintaining that position will require its commercial growth to keep pace with the cost of its team, its ambitious home and its wider commitments.