A prominent Portuguese football club reported significant financial losses and acknowledged a disappointing recent season for its top team, even as it highlighted its substantial positive economic impact on local families through youth athletic programs.
Sporting Clube de Braga’s SAD (public limited sports company) recorded a loss of nearly 11 million euros (approximately $11.77 million) for the 2024/25 season. This contributed to the overall club presenting a deficit of almost 3.7 million euros (approximately $3.96 million), despite the club itself having an individually positive financial outcome.
António Salvador, president of both the club and its SAD, told members at a General Assembly held at the AMCO Arena that the 2024/25 season “did not fulfill” ambitions for the main men’s football team. “The season for our football was not positive, and the financial result generated cannot leave us satisfied,” Salvador stated. “With the ambition that characterizes us and with the commitment to constant growth that we have always defended, we cannot fail to mention that we wanted more and better.”
Despite these sporting and financial setbacks, Salvador emphasized the club’s significant social contributions, citing a recent study by the Faculty of Economics at the University of Minho. The study found that the services the club provides to its youth athletes across various sports save their families approximately 1,800 euros (about $1,926) annually.
When multiplied across all the club’s young athletes, these services result in over 10 million euros (more than $10.7 million) in costs avoided each year for families, the community, and ultimately the Portuguese state.
Salvador expressed confidence that the club would return to positive financial results during the current 2025/26 season. He indicated this turnaround was “practically assured” already due to the team’s European performance and capital gains from player transfers. He described the previous negative result as “circumstantial.”
Over the past five years, Braga’s senior men’s football team has achieved two podium finishes in Portugal’s top football division, won two League Cups, and secured one Portuguese Cup. The team has also competed in the UEFA Champions League group stage and reached advanced stages of the UEFA Europa League.