Gelsenkirchen – Economically on the path to consolidation, but still in trouble because of the sporting crisis: FC Schalke is back in the black for the first time since 2018. As the second division football team, which is only two points away from the relegation zone, announced that the group result for the last calendar year was 6.9 million euros.
Last year, the traditional club reported a loss of 19.4 million euros. Net financial liabilities fell from 139.9 million euros to 128.5 million euros. Compared to 2022, sales revenue increased from 157 to 168.3 million euros.
“We are very pleased that we were able to achieve our economic goals as planned under difficult conditions,” said Christina Rühl-Hamers, the board member responsible for finance. “The club has managed to improve important economic parameters.”
Legacy issues are troubling Schalke
On the difficult path to the planned reduction of the high mountain of debt, Schalke is still bothered by legacy problems. In 2023, FC Schalke had to pay around 16 million euros for contractually agreed interest and repayment payments. “A look at the DFL financial report shows that many clubs from the 2nd league don’t even spend this amount on their licensed team,” commented Rühl-Hamers. According to the CFO, these costs make it difficult to invest in the “core business of football”.
According to the club’s announcement, the negative equity, which was reduced to 103.3 million euros, must be reduced by at least another five percent this year. Otherwise, according to the DFL statutes, there is a risk of a deduction of three points.
There are particularly great concerns about further relegation to the 3rd league. “We submitted the licensing documents for the 2nd and 3rd league on time on March 15th. As far as the third league plans are concerned, we expect that the provisional license will only be granted under conditions. However, we are convinced that we can stay in the league,” commented Rühl-Hamers.