A lot has been made of the Friedkin Group’s issues with manager and boardroom appointments at Roma but one area the group has improved dramatically is on the balance sheets.
Italian newspaper Il Tempo has reported this week the club’s balance sheet for 30 June – an essential figure when it comes to financial compliance – has been approved and the numbers show the Friedkin Group has worked wonders to turn around Roma’s financial performance.
In 2022 Roma’s financial situation was so dire it was handed a de-facto transfer ban by UEFA. The ban, which was an agreement between the two, specified Roma could not sign new players and register them for European competitions unless the cost of incoming players was offset by the cost of outgoing players. In short, Roma were not able to buy players unless they balanced it with sales.
But there were more pressures. The same agreement ordered Roma to lower club losses to 60m euros by 2025/26. However, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport the 2021-2022 budget saw a staggering loss of 219.3 million euros as the club spiralled into financial disaster.
It meant the Friedkin Group has been forced to drastically alter the financial landscape at the club before it can even consider investing properly in the playing squad. Sound familiar?
The most recent accounts show the club’s losses were already halved to 103m euros in 2023 and has fallen again to 81.4m euros in 2024, putting them on track to pass the criteria laid down by UEFA.
The reason for the dramatic turnaround has not been all about drastic cost-cutting either. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport the club recorded an increase in net profit of almost 25% in the last 12 months thanks to savvy commercial deals.
It says: “Among the factors that contributed to this result are success in the retail and e-commerce sector, stadium revenues and new partnerships, such as the two-year €25 million agreement with Riyadh Season.”
Deals with Friedkin Group companies including Gulf Toyota and Auberge Resorts have also bolstered Roma’s coffers at a time when commercial success was vital. The club also signed a lucrative deal with Adidas to manufacturer the club’s shirts and last week it launched beautiful retro kits and tracksuits based on the eternally popular 1993 ‘Barella’ kit. That deal has led to a surge in shirt sales, topping 135,000 in the last year, and record-breaking revenue.
The club has also offloaded some high earners and invested in younger players. Players such as Guela Doué, Omorodion, Fresneda, Tiago Santos, Vanderson and Soule have all arrived to bolster the squad and while performances on the pitch have stuttered, there is plenty of talent to nurture in future.
Roma have even been able to spend a little in the summer without restrictive transfer rules and 2024 proved to be the first summer in a number of years where the club did not have to sell big money players to meet the dreaded 30 June deadline.