Madrid would have a record budget of 62.7 million, the second highest in the Euroleague

The basketball section of the real Madrid It will operate with a record budget of 67.2 million euros for the 2026-27 season, as revealed today by the digital 2Playbook. Of this amount, 44.4 million euros will be allocated specifically to the salaries of players and coaching staff before taxes, which represents a significant investment by the club.

This increase in investment comes after the club’s basketball operations recorded losses of €33.2 million in the 2025-26 season, a deficit that was covered by income generated by the football section. For the current campaign, the staff budget of the real Madrid has amounted to 52.7 million euros.

In a broader context, the club’s total spending on sports salaries and transfer amortization, which includes both football and basketball, is projected to reach a record €707.1 million in the 2026-27 season. The total income of real Madrid They are also expected to reach a record 1,405 million euros, with men’s football operations representing the majority of sports spending.

Despite the losses, the basketball department at real Madrid has continued to increase its income. Last season, the team generated 27.4 million euros, which represented a year-on-year growth of close to 10%. This increase is largely attributed to a significant increase in revenue from audiovisual rights, which grew 61% year-on-year to €5.8 million, driven by the Euroleague’s revenue distribution model.

Sponsorship remains the main source of income for the basketball section. In the 2025-26 season, the real Madrid generated 14 million euros from sponsorship deals, one million euros more than the previous season. For the current 2026-27 campaign, the club expects sponsorship income to reach 17.5 million euros, projecting an increase of 17.6% year-on-year. Among the club’s main sponsors are Emirates and adidas.

In the area of Euroleaguecomparing budgets between teams is complex due to variability in data disclosure. BasketNews has developed a tracking tool that distinguishes between the total budget, gross payroll (including taxes) and net payroll (what players earn). Panathinaikos leads the initial figures with an estimated net payroll of 34.0 million euros, followed by Hapoel Tel Aviv with 29.0 million euros, while the net payroll of real Madrid It is estimated between 22.0 and 24.0 million euros.

The main confusion when comparing budgets in the Euroleague lies in mixing gross and net salaries. For example, the Zalgiris announced 19.7 million euros in salary expenses for players and coaching staff, but its actual net payroll is approximately 12.0 million euros. This distinction is crucial, as different tax systems can drastically alter a club’s actual spending power in the player market, making teams with high total budgets, such as Bayern Munich or the Paris Basketball, have a lower net salary spending capacity than other teams.