Bahia SAF and Bahia association record a deficit of R$131 million in 2023; look

The reproduction of the balance sheet published by Bahia SAF in the newspaper Tribuna da Bahia, on April 20th.

Bahia SAF was created on February 27, 2023. At the time, Sociedade Anônima do Futebol emerged with a capital of R$1. Yes, one real. Shortly afterwards, on May 1st, there was the “drop-down”, which would be, roughly speaking, the transfer of assets between the two parties involved in the creation of the new company. In this case, Esporte Clube Bahia, the traditional version of the club and now known as the “association”, transferred R$26.7 million to keep 10% of the shares, with R$1.5 million still to be transferred. The City Group contributed R$190 million to obtain 90%, with an additional R$131 million remaining. In other words, SAF’s capital has already increased from R$1 to R$216.7 million. The remainder must be paid in a maximum of three years. When this occurs, the total value of Bahia SAF’s share capital will be R$349.5 million.

This introduction was necessary to understand the logic behind Bahia’s new financial structure. In practice, the club now has two statements per year. One from the “association”, with almost remote activity, and the other from “SAF”, with command of football (men’s and women’s, professional and amateur) under the control of the majority shareholder, Grupo City. In this main version, the first document, published in a Bahian newspaper, contains the details set out in the first paragraph. By the way, the values ​​in the report are subsequent to the initial deposit of R$190 million, used to pay debts and other costs. So much so that the club spent R$100 million on reinforcements last season, remaining in Series A.

Soma dos Bahias generates record revenue

In its debut year, SAF generated gross revenue of R$176,541,000. This number does not consider the transfer from the controlling group, whose contract provides for a minimum investment of R$1 billion over 15 years. That said, the main source of revenue in 2023 was the broadcasting rights for the competitions, with R$76.5 million, or 43% of the total. The Bahia association had revenue of R$63,201,000, with the television budget being R$12.1 million, or 19% of the total. In the association, the main source was, in fact, the sum of sponsorship, advertising, marketing and donations, with R$25.4 million. This corresponded to 40%. Therefore, I bring the two data separately, and only then present the general sum – in my view, especially this year, it is more suitable for comparison with previous years.

Therefore, the total revenue of “Bahias” was R$ 239 million, being the largest in tricolor history in nominal terms. In addition to the main revenues of both SAF and the association, there is the balance sheet result. The final balance is made by subtracting the net revenue (which is the total revenue after deducting taxes) by the operating expenses and the financial result – this “financial result”, with investments and interest, can be positive or negative, but both cases this year were negative. Thus, Bahia recorded a negative final balance on its balance sheets, with R$66 million in SAF and R$65 million in the association. Combining these deficits gives -131 million, which is the number in the final table of the post. However, the club pointed out this initial loss as within what was expected in the reorganization of a 92-year-old institution.

Old debt almost paid off by SAF

In relation to the club’s debt, contracted by Esporte Clube Bahia, SAF has already paid off 79%. On January 30 of this year, a meeting of the Deliberative Council presented the result, with the payment of R$258 million, eliminating labor debts. Today, the total debt is around R$50 million, completely “payable” within the new reality. In the previous balance sheet, pre-SAF, liabilities, with the sum of all the club’s pending issues, were R$296 million.

Total revenue from Bahia SAF: R$ 176.54 million

1st) R$76.53 million (43.3%) – TV broadcasting rights
2nd) R$49.19 million (27.8%) – Members and box office
3rd) R$31.11 million (17.6%) – Sponsorship and marketing
4th) R$9.22 million (5.2%) – Branches
5th) R$5.62 million (3.1%) – Sale of athletes’ economic rights
6th) R$4.83 million (2.7%) – Other income
Net Revenue: R$ 158,362,000
Operating expense : R$ 222,278,000
Financial result: R$ 2,113,000 (negative)
Final balance in 2023: -66.02 million (deficit)

Bahia association’s total revenue: R$63.20 million

1st) R$ 25.42 million (40.2%) – Sponsorship and marketing
2nd) R$ 19.57 million (30.9%) – Members and box office
3rd) R$ 12.10 million (19.1%) – TV broadcasting rights
4th) R$3.17 million (5.0%) – Branches
5th) R$ 2.91 million (4.6%) – Other income
Net Revenue: R$ 58,996,000
Operating expense: R$ 111,620,000
Financial result: R$ 12,499,000 (negative)
Final balance in 2023: -65.12 million (deficit)

Below, check out Bahia’s recent revenue history. In 2023, the value tabulated on the blog adds the results of Bahia SAF and Bahia association from January 1st to December 31st.

Bahia’s total revenue

2018 (Series A): R$ 136,107,000
2019 (Series A): R$189,485,000 (+39%; +53 million)
2020 (Series A): R$ 130,619,000 (-31%; -58 million)
2021 (Series A): R$208,649,000 (+59%; +78 million)
2022 (Series B): R$ 108,346,000 (-48%; -100 million)
2023 (Series A): R$239,742,000 (+121%; +131 million)

Result of the year (surplus/deficit)

2018 (Series A): +4,481,000
2019 (Series A): +3,881,000
2020 (Series A): -50,641,000
2021 (Series A): +27,751,000
2022 (Series B): -77,758,000
2023 (Series A): -131,152,000
* The balance of subtracting net income from annual expenses

Below, a comparison of four important fronts for the composition of revenue in professional football, present in Bahia’s last four financial statements. In 2023, reinforcing, the value considers the sum of Bahia SAF and Bahia association.

TV broadcasting rights

2020 (Series A): R$46.59 million
2021 (Series A): R$90.65 million (+94%; +44 million)
2022 (Series B): R$18.28 million (-79%; -72 million)
2023 (Series A): R$88.63 million (+384%; 70 million)

Supporter membership and box office

2020 (Series A): R$34.34 million
2021 (Series A): R$22.89 million (-33%; -11 million)
2022 (Series B): R$36.74 million (+60%; +13 million)
2023 (Series A): R$68.76 million (+87%; +32 million)

Athlete negotiation

2020 (Series A): R$21.71 million
2021 (Series A): R$35.44 million (+63%; +13 million)
2022 (Series B): R$21.41 million (-39%; -14 million)
2023 (Series A): R$5.99 million (-72%; -15 million)

Sponsorship/Marketing

2020 (Series A): R$10.18 million
2021 (Series A): R$18.24 million (+79%; +8 million)
2022 (Series B): R$18.14 million (-0.5%; -0.1 million)
2023 (Series A): R$56.53 million (+211%; +38 million)

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