After a 23-year break

“Demands energy”: Sturm in the league of millions

Sturm Graz is ready for the Champions League adventure.(Bild: GEPA)

The Champions League is rolling and Sturm Graz is back in the mix this year after a 23-year break. By participating in the top flight, the Austrian champions have tapped into the biggest possible source of funding in European soccer. In Graz, efforts are being made to use the new leeway wisely. "Treasurer" Thomas Tebbich is calculating income and expenditure ahead of the CL kick-off on Thursday against Brest - and is hoping for one or two extra "points" for the account.

SK Sturm has steadily increased its revenue recently. After EUR 46.54 million in 2022/23, the Graz club will break the EUR 50 million mark for the first time in the 2023/24 financial year. However, the European Cup millions will take Sturm into completely different spheres once again. Without having played, income of around EUR 21.8 million can be expected from CL entry fees and value bonuses.

Performance-related prize money (2.1 million for a win, 700,000 for a draw) and ticketing income (around 4 million) have not yet been factored in. "We will hopefully score a few points, which would then come on top," said Tebbich, the Managing Director for Economic Affairs. "If we play an absolutely good Champions League, the revenue could be around 30 million euros."

Remains a financial balancing act
Given this sum, it was sometimes surprising that sporting director Andreas Schicker only really dug deep into his pockets on the transfer market for Mika Biereth (EUR 4.8 million), but otherwise relied on four loans with regular potential. He hopes to remain economically and athletically maneuverable in squad management. At the same time, he still sees enough players with resale potential under contract.

As is always the case in financial matters, diversification, i.e. spreading investments across different asset classes, is not bad advice. Sturm, with its banker Christian Jauk as president, is trying to take this to heart in the current phase of success. The club also stretched itself financially to keep Otar Kiteishvili, the team was strengthened once again with promising players, further investments are being made in the training infrastructure, the women's department has been professionalized with full-time employees, the office has been expanded and, most recently, an even larger fan store was opened in a shopping center.

Tebbich currently sees "growth at all levels" and speaks of record sponsorship levels, but also qualifies: "More money is coming in, but expenditure has also increased." One particular cost driver is the stage on which Sturm wants to prove itself. Because the Graz arena does not meet UEFA requirements, Sturm will play its home games in Klagenfurt. According to Tebbich, this costs around half a million euros per game. If the team plays successfully, a large chunk of the performance bonuses would flow to them. Tebbich sees a "very performance-oriented model" that has been developed in good consultation with the team council. "If they work hard, they deserve the money."

Fan merchandise is ready and waiting
The current hype and the Champions League planning place enormous structural demands on the club. The 60 or so employees in the office and merchandising department have been working "absolutely to the limit" for months, explains the managing director. "We are now playing in two stadiums at two different locations. From the outside, people perhaps underestimate the massive effort involved in getting everything up to Champions League standard, so that the customer is satisfied with ticketing, security, waiting times and the traffic concept. Maintaining the standard in the second stadium requires a lot of energy," said Tebbich.

A loss of substance that is offset by the anticipation of special European Cup nights. The ordering of fan merchandise bearing the Champions League logo obviously couldn't go fast enough in Graz. "We were the first to order merchandising items from all 36 Champions League participants," says Tebbich with a laugh. At least that's what the employee of the Irish UEFA sub-company told him.