First Division – Ferencváros on Top with Highest Profit

The teams of the OTP Bank League (Hungarian First Division Football Championship) registered total revenues of around HUF 60 billion (EUR 150 million), last year. Ferencváros is the clear standout of the field, closing the last calendar year with a profit of HUF 1.324 billion (EUR 3.4 million), the highest profit in the Hungarian top league, reports Világgazdaság.

The MTK Budapest-Paks FC match kicked off the 122nd season of the Hungarian top-flight football championship, the OTP Bank League 2023-2024. Ferencvárosi Torna Club, aiming for its sixth title in a row and 35th in its history, has no first-tier challenger this time either.

Another title defense for FTC would come as no surprise, as they are not only the best but also the most valuable team in the 12-club domestic top flight.

Ferencváros (nicknamed Fradi) owns the most marketable stock, with 37 percent (HUF 18.97 billion, EUR 49 million) of the total value of the squad, estimated at HUF 52 billion (EUR 130 million), according to German trade magazine Transfermarkt.

They also have the most expensive starting 11 in the top flight (HUF 12.05 billion, EUR 31 million), and the same is true for the ranking of footballers.

The highest price on the market (HUF 1.93 billion, EUR 5 million) is now being paid for the playing rights of Ecuadorian left-back Cristian Ramírez, who recently returned to the green and white club.

It is also interesting to note that the first 16 places in the overall list of OTP Bank League footballers are almost without exception occupied by Ferencváros,

with only Puskás Akadémia’s Swedish right winger Jonathan Levi, the 12th most expensive player in the database, breaking their hegemony with a price tag of HUF 657.59 million (EUR 1.7 million).

The biggest change in the composition of the teams, however, has been in Fehérvár FC, where the value of the team’s players decreased by HUF 4.41 billion (EUR 11 million) compared to 2022.

“We need one or two more clubs with the same budget, player quality, and international standing as Ferencváros, and if one or the other goes down, there is still a third club that will stay afloat,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said recently.

The prime minister’s words are backed by the fact that while staff-related expenditure increased from EUR 7 billion to EUR 9 billion, the

European Cup successes have brought a lot to Ferencváros, and the latest Europa League title will be the highlight of the next year’s report, as will the  EUR 2.6 million transfer fee for Aissa Laidouni, who was sold to Germany in January this year.

One thing is certain: they closed last calendar year with a profit of HUF 1.324 billion (EUR 3.4 million), a profit that no one else in the Hungarian Championship can boast about.

The financial reports also show that PAFC Felcsút made the biggest loss (HUF 1.56 billion, EUR 4 million), while in terms of total revenue, only Fehérvár FC managed to approach the HUF 10 billion (EUR 26 million) mark (HUF 9.15 billion).

The publicly available data also clearly shows that

Ferencváros has the biggest budget, and while in 2021, they spent HUF 6.67 billion (EUR 17 million) on salaries, last year they spent HUF 9.02 billion (EUR 23 million).

The lowest spending on salaries was spent by Kecskemét (HUF 600 million, EUR 1.5 million) over the twelve months.

The conclusion is that the teams of the OTP Bank League registered a total revenue of around HUF 60 billion (EUR 150 million) last year, their wage costs amounted to HUF 31.29 billion (EUR 34 million), and their after-tax profit to HUF 440 million (EUR 1.1 million), so the domestic first division is a very good business.

Via Világgazdaság, Featured image via Facebook/Ferencvárosi Torna Club