Spanish giants Real Madrid unveil record budget for the new season

Spanish giants Real Madrid on Friday unveiled their largest ever budget of 300 million euros (US$361mil) for the just-opened 2004-2005 season, up from 232mil a year ago.

Unveiling the figures on their official website, Real, whose budget has shot up since the 2002-2003 figure of 192.6mil euros, said it had last season made ordinary profits of 38mil euros, adding 33mil in extraordinary receipts.

The figures include the anticipated extra payments to the tune of 63mil euros of transfer fees for the likes of England skipper David Beckham, bought from Manchester United a year ago for 40mil euros, and new Argentine signing Walter Samuel, who cost 25mil from AS Roma.

Overall, the club posted a profit for last season of six million euros with global marketing on the back of the Beckham signing playing a major role, that transfer having seen sales of merchandise rocket, particularly in Asia.

Marketing brought in 85mil euros last season and this season is set to be worth 137mil euros of total anticipated revenue of 300mil euros, a twofold increase in just three seasons.

Television revenue for the season which got under way last weekend is to hit 71mil euros from 69mil last season, outstripping gate receipts.

The figures show the club had 169mil euros in the kitty at the end of June and was debt free.

In recent seasons Real have striven to ensure their financial health, a move greatly aided by the sale three years ago of their Ciudad Deportiva facilities to the Madrid city authorities. That transaction wiped out debts estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.

In line with its policy of adding at least one top name to its squad each season Real captured Beckham's England teammates Michael Owen from Liverpool and Jonathan Woodgate from Newcastle over the summer as well as Samuel.

Previous recent seasons had seen the nine times European champions capture former World Players of the Year Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.