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In the latest edition of the club magazine, released in time for the upcoming home game against TSG Hoffenheim 1899, Bayern Munich CEO Karl Heinz Rummenigge revealed that the club has just paid off all obligations in connection with their home stadium on the outskirts of Munich, the Allianz Arena.
Now, considering that FC Bayern is a model club that prides itself on running a business with responsible finances, has turned a profit for over 20 straight years, and can point to a transfer policy that has never seen the club get into debt (good or bad) to buy players, maybe this does not sound that newsworthy.
When you consider that the original loan, which Bayern took out in 2005, was in the amount of €346 million, and was scheduled to be paid off over 25 years (by the year 2030), the fact that the club was able to pay it off completely in less than a decade is mind boggling.
Contrast that to other big clubs, like Real Madrid, that have resorted to selling off company assets (under extremely favorable conditions which the government provided) and consistently take on new debt to finance their football operations. To top it all off, Bayern were able to do this without any help from local, state or federal government, as the whole deal was privately financed.
The yearly costs of these loan payments (estimated to be about €25m per year) will now be used to further invest in the club and team. It is just another indicator of how well-run this club and organization really is, considering that they are not exactly penny-pinching on their player purchases. Kudos to the board and management team on the excellent job they are doing in running the business.