Espanyol's top leader, the Chinese Chen Yansheng, visited Barcelona for the last time in August 2022, precisely to close in person the renewal of Sergi Darder, then an icon of the club. Since then the panorama has completely changed in the entity, especially with the second relegation in three seasons. A year and a half later, Chen Yansheng plans to return to Barcelona in January to see first-hand the situation of the club, which is going through major financial and sporting problems.
As far as sports are concerned, Mao Ye and Fran Garagarza fully explained the situation a couple of months ago on a trip to China that led to the dismissal of Luis García a few weeks ago. Economically, on December 13, Espanyol will hold the General Shareholders' Meeting, a mere procedure since Rastar Group controls 99.9% of the shares if it were not for the fact that the club will present losses of 22 million euros, 55 since 2021 and nine more are planned for this year.
Given this situation, club sources indicate that the property has had to financially support the entity again this summer. Without going into figures, Chen has injected money to reduce the club's financial debt in a year of losses, which provides a lot of stability at a delicate time. The bad economic situation is a consequence of the pandemic, two relegations and the deflation itself in the world of football, which hurts selling teams like Espanyol the most. This situation forces the club in the short term to be reasonable at a sporting level and not to waste, although the existence of margin in the salary limit to be able to undertake reinforcements in the winter market is recognized.
That is why Espanyol seeks to generate new businesses that allow it to depend as little as possible on television billing and player sales. And there the stadium appears as a very important source of income. The naming rights signed with Stage Front in the year of relegation is considered great news. An agreement that when the club rises to First Division will be the third highest paid in the category, pending what Real Madrid can get for its stadium. In fact, they are hopeful that it can be one of the venues for the 2030 World Cup that will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. In addition, the 30,000 members and 26,000 subscribers this season and an average attendance higher than last year will generate between 8 and 9% of the club's income this year.
Since Chen's arrival, the club has also sought to internationalize. Despite the decline, 90% of the collaborating Catalan companies have renewed their commercial agreements, so the entity is mainly focused on four foreign markets where the Espanyol brand can grow: China, South Africa, Indonesia and Mexico.
It is in Mexico where they have their greatest hopes with the creation of a high-performance center that recreates the Dani Jarque Sports City. After twelve years working with an academy, the government of the state of Quintana Roo (2.8 million inhabitants) has trusted the club for a macro project for the entire state. The aim is to replicate the Dani Jarque sports city and establish a work methodology with which to train the most talented players within a sports structure. A project with which Espanyol wants to make the training of players in other countries a new line of business. These recurring revenues could reach seven figures, although it will not be until 2024 when the project is fired.
Everything so that the club reaches at least 30% recurring income as soon as possible outside of television and the sale of players. Although none of this will make sense if the team does not ascend to First Division, the only place from which it can reverse the current poor economic situation.
