Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund confident they can weather financial challenges despite loss of €43.9 million

Berlin: Borussia Dortmund on Monday posted a loss of €43.9 million ($52.2 million) in 2019/20, partly due to lost match-day revenue during the coronavirus pandemic. Dortmund, who finished runners-up in the Bundesliga last season, are Germany’s second-biggest club, behind league and cup champions Bayern Munich. Hans-Joachim Watzke, Dortmund’s chief executive, blamed the hit to the club’s finances on lost ticket sales and match-day revenue and reductions in advertising and VIP hospitality revenue. Last year, the club reported a profit of €17.4 million. However, he said Dortmund has the financial resources to weather the pandemic, “we benefit from the fact we have operated very conservatively” in past seasons. “We have succeeded in generating such a high level of assets that we can withstand this pandemic for a very long time,” Watzke assured. The final nine rounds of last season were played in May and June behind closed doors and there is little hope fans can return when the 2020/21 campaign starts on 18 September. “Of course, we are all poking around in the dark a bit as long as there is no spectator income,” added Watzke. Watzke is refusing to discuss where Dortmund hope to finish in the Bundesliga next season, especially given Bayern’s 8-2 demolition of Spanish giants Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals on Friday. “We don’t have to say anything more about Bayern Munich, because their (future) opponents will no longer be beaten but destroyed,” he added.