Juventus Posts €254 Million Loss, The Largest Ever Recorded In Serie A History

On Friday, Juventus published the consolidated financial statement for the 2021/22 period.

The document, among other figures, highlighted losses for €254 million ($246.1m), the largest ever recorded by a Serie A team.

And while the club continues to operate under strong financial pressure, the lack of sporting results is currently causing tensions to escalate at Juventus.

It has been a turbulent start to the 2022/23 season for Juventus.

On the field, the Bianconeri have so far failed to pull off convincing performances at both the domestic and international level.

They are sitting in eighth position in the Serie A table and are already seven points shy of league leaders Napoli. In the UEFA Champions League, they haven’t yet collected a point, having lost the first two group-stage matches against Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica.

As is often the case, much of the blame has fallen on the head coach, with Massimiliano Allegri being strongly called into question for the team’s poor performances and unattractive brand of soccer.

Even though the hashtag #AllegriOut has become popular among the Juventus fans, the ownership publicly decided to stick to him, perhaps taking into account that at this time, they could not afford sacking the league’s highest-paid manager.

The financial side of things is not looking any brighter for Juventus, indicating how Italy’s most successful club is currently enduring one of the toughest moments of the past decade.

On Friday night, the club’s board of directors released the consolidated financial statement for the financial year ending on June 30, 2022. The 17-page document, which was published on the club’s official website, highlighted a remarkable €254.3 million loss for the 2021/22 period.

This figure represents the highest financial deficit ever posted by a club in the history of Serie A, surpassing last year’s record-breaking numbers released first by Juventus (€209.9m) and, a few weeks later, by Inter Milan (€245.6m).

It is also the fifth consecutive year in which Juventus have posted a loss.

In its financial statement, the club pointed out how the 2021-22 amounts have been negatively influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic significantly affected – both directly and indirectly – revenues from ticket sale, revenues from the sale of products and licenses and revenues from players’ registration rights, with an inevitable negative impact of both an economic and financial nature,” the note read.

The club mentioned how the lower number of UEFA Champions League fixtures had a negative impact on television rights and media revenues (Juventus were knocked out early in the competition, falling to Villarreal in the Round of 16).

It also added how stadium restrictions continued to impair match-day revenue during the 2021/22 season. In fact, following last winter’s surge of the Omicron variant, the league imposed attendance limits that had several financial implications on the Serie A clubs’ gate receipts and merchandise sales.

Next month, Juventus will submit their consolidated financial statements to their shareholders for approval.