Trenčín takes top spot in club earnings for the first time

Last year’s sale of top players brought the team of Dutch owner Tschen La Ling record revenues of 8.44 million euros

The six-year reign of Slovan Bratislava as the highest-earning football club in Slovakia has come to an end. For the first time in history, AS Trenčín has taken the lead in earnings among top-division teams. According to agency Bisnode, the club reported revenues of 8.44 million euros for the accounting period from January to December 2016. Remarkably, this figure more than doubled year-on-year, rising by 4.54 million euros.

What was behind this surge?
“Our economically successful year was driven by player sales on the international transfer market. Leading the earnings chart is certainly pleasing,” said AS Trenčín’s general manager Róbert Rybníček for the Economic Daily. Since 2010, when the Economic Daily began tracking the revenues of Slovak clubs, player sales have never had such a significant impact on total revenue as they did in Trenčín’s case. The most lucrative transfer was Matúš Bero’s move to Turkey’s Trabzonspor for 2.5 million euros. The club also earned over a million from the sales of Gino van Kessel to Slavia Prague and Samuel Kalu to Belgian side Gent. Transfers of Madu, Bala, and Rabiu added an estimated two million more.

“We can’t expect to hit such high numbers every year. Last year was exceptional in every way,” Rybníček said. Most of these revenues will be directed toward the construction of a new stadium in Trenčín. According to documents published by the Slovak Public Procurement Office, the project is valued at over 20 million euros, with 2.4 million covered by a state subsidy from the national stadium development program. “Through player transfers, we’ve tried to partially cover some of the stadium construction costs,” Rybníček added. Construction is set to begin in the coming months. Despite record-low stadium attendance, Slovakia’s top division is becoming more financially robust. In 2015, the 12 top-tier clubs earned 27.41 million euros. Last year, that figure rose to 31.69 million.

In addition to higher transfer revenues, this growth may also be linked to positive economic conditions in the country. “The fact that Fortuna Liga matches are now broadcast on three television stations plays a role. This can increase advertising and marketing income for individual clubs,” explained sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos. Success at the national level also boosts interest. Notable recent examples include the under-21 national team’s performance at the European Championship in Poland and the senior team’s participation at EURO 2016 in France.

What Slovak football still lacks is a significant breakthrough in European competitions. This week, the country’s top-earning clubs face return legs in European qualifiers: Žilina in the Champions League and Trenčín, Slovan, and Ružomberok in the Europa League. “Revenue from European competition is already a solid contributor to our annual budget,” Rybníček noted. (...)