Hey everyone,

today we’re talking about Bologna.

A fantastic city, incredible food, and a club that, after many years, is finally back in profit.

Everyone talks about how most clubs lose money.

That’s why I like to dig into the few that actually make a profit and understand what they do differently. Let’s start!

☑ Profit: €13.95m after €5.6m in taxes

☑ Revenues: €224m (vs €82.8m in 22/23)

☑ Commercial revenue: €27m+ (vs €17.9m in 22/23)

☑ Ticketing: €16.8m

☑ Player trading: €42m profit

☑ Costs: €201.6m (€84.1m in wages / €40.2m in amortisation)

☑ Gross operating margin: €63m

☑ Net operating margin: €22.5m

Bologna’s first-ever participation in the new format brought:

- 8 matches

- higher gate receipts

 The exposure and prize money changed the scale of the budget.

€42m in capital gains before year-end.

Sartori remains one of Europe’s sharpest football operators.

His favorite markets are still Belgium, the Netherlands, and Scotland.

€84m wage bill may sound high...

But it includes win bonuses from the Coppa Italia.

That’s still sustainable relative to income.

The ownership didn’t cash in.

Every euro earned is put back into football assets.

Also owns the MLS team in Montréal

He has focused on:

Better matchday experience (hospitality, family areas, fan zones).

Attendance rose from 23k pre-COVID to 27k+

If you are an aspiring SD, study him!

Proven track record:

1. Built Chievo’s miracle run to Serie A.

2. Designed Atalanta’s Champions League model.

3. Now turning Bologna into a European regular.

Prefers live scouting, travels constantly, and targets northern Europe’s efficient markets.

24/25: 13th highest in Serie A -> €39m

25/26: 10th -> €45m

Very good for a club reaching European competitions.

Bologna FC demonstrates what happens when a club stops looking for shortcuts and starts playing for the long term.

They had the ambition to improve, to trade players and to play in the cups.

With this goal in mind, they identified and hired the perfect person for the job.

The sporting director who achieved exactly these goals with Atalanta.

Giovanni Sartori. 

And it worked.

So: 

First, you need to choose the club's goal with extreme clarity. Then you need to find the most suitable people to achieve that specific goal.

Very often... too often, clubs do not know what their main objective is.

To win a trophy? To buy and sell players for profit? To focus on academy players?

And they have decision-makers within the club with different ideas about football and different ambitions.

The CEO/owner thinks one thing. The sporting director thinks another. The manager thinks yet another.

That's why we see many clubs that spend money not doing well.

The real challenge now for Bologna? 

Maintaining this level of consistency for the next five years.

Knowing that there will be structural changes over these five years.

For example, it is unlikely that Italiano, the coach, will stay for that long. 

If I were the owner Saputo, I would do everything I could to hold on to Sartori and his team.

Stability isn’t about keeping the same coach.

It’s about keeping the same method.

People come and go, but your successful framework must stay.

Bologna has found its rhythm.

Now the question is whether they can protect it long enough for it to become their identity.

See you tomorrow,

Federico