In This Article

Borussia Dortmund finished second in the Bundesliga, and its revenue fell 12.5%. Manchester United climbed from 15th to third, and its revenue reached a record while its net loss widened. In both, the headline number tells only part of the story: European income, one-off costs, currency and timing do much of the work. Two details in the merchandising revenue stand out. Dortmund sold more goods and earned less. And more than half of what United reports as retail and merchandising appears to be its kit supplier’s payments, with the rest coming from shops, merchandise and other licensing.

Dortmund: a very good league season, a smaller European one

The club’s report calls 2025/26 ambivalent, in sport and in the accounts. Dortmund finished second with 73 points and qualified directly for next season’s Champions League, for the eleventh time in a row. In the Champions League itself the team finished the league phase 17th and went out in the knockout play-offs, a year after reaching the quarter-final.

Revenue fell from €526.0 million to €460.5 million, most of it television income, down €58.8 million. Champions League money accounts for €31.4 million of that, and most of the rest is other international income, including the Club World Cup, which the report says straddled two financial years. Advertising went the other way on new and more valuable sponsorship contracts, and profit from player sales (the report’s “transfer result”) rose €21.4 million. Even so, a profit of €6.5 million became a loss of €21.7 million, which the report links to the planned Champions League revenue that did not arrive.

Manchester United: a league comeback without Europe

United climbed from 15th in 2024/25 to third in 2025/26. The year before it had reached the Europa League final; this year it played no European football. Home matches fell from 30 to 20: seven fewer in Europe and three fewer in the domestic cups.

Revenue still reached a record £677.6 million, up 1.7%. Broadcasting rose on the league finish, the release says, even with no European football: domestic competition income rose £58.9 million while European income fell £25.0 million. Matchday fell £6.8 million with the fewer home games, and commercial fell £16.0 million.

Operating profit (before financing and tax) swung from a loss of £18.4 million to a profit of £22.6 million. Profit from player sales barely moved (£46.9 million against £48.7 million), so it did not drive the swing. Lower one-off costs, mainly restructuring and coaching changes, did most of it: they fell by £28.4 million, out of a swing of roughly £41 million (our calculation).

The net loss still widened, from £33.0 million to £43.0 million, because net financing costs rose from £21.2 million to £69.6 million. The release puts most of that down to currency: United borrows in US dollars, and an unrealised (on-paper) loss from exchange-rate moves this year replaced a gain a year earlier.

Both clubs expect revenue to rise next year, and United’s guidance includes the return to the Champions League.

What the brand does in the numbers

Brand strength is hard to read in one year’s numbers, because commercial income is largely contracts. United’s commercial revenue fell in a third-place year: sponsorship was down £27.9 million, which the releases tie to contract changes and a post-season tour that was not possible because of the men’s World Cup. Dortmund’s advertising rose 2.8% without Champions League bonuses, and membership rose 5.8% to 243,236. Deloitte’s Money League, published in January, covers 2024/25, the 15th-place season, and had United eighth, four places lower than a year earlier.

Inside the merchandising lines

Merchandising looks modest at one club and large at the other, but the two revenue lines count different things. Dortmund’s covers fan articles sold and licences granted and was 8.4% of revenue; the contract with its kit supplier, Puma, runs to 2034 and sits under advertising. United’s combines retail, merchandising, apparel and product licensing: £156.8 million, or 23.1% of revenue.

It is easy to read United’s line as mostly shop sales. The annual filing suggests otherwise. It shows commercial income is made of two lines only, sponsorship and this one, and says sponsorship excludes the adidas agreement. Adidas, the second-largest customer at 12.7% of total revenue (about £86 million), therefore appears to sit in this line. That would be more than half of it, leaving about £71 million for shops, merchandise and other licensing: roughly 10% of revenue, in the same range as Dortmund (our calculations).

Dortmund: more goods sold, less money earned

Merchandising revenue fell 3.4% to €38.7 million, even though the report cites higher sales volume. Its reasons: the team’s early cup exits meant fewer matchdays and less exposure for the cup shirt (the report’s “Cup-Trikot”), and the new home kit went on sale in August 2025, which left about three months less selling time than the year before and a higher share of discounted shirt sales. Even so, the report says revenue stayed at the level of earlier, more successful years, helped by a good Christmas and another special-kit campaign.

The accounts show how it happened. The cost of the goods the merchandising company sold, including write-downs on stock, rose 15%, while the value of stock on hand fell from €8.8 million to €7.6 million: more goods out of the door, and more of the shirts at reduced prices. The merchandising company still made a profit of €5.4 million, against €6.7 million. The report is clear that results still drive the line over time, and that the club keeps ambitious merchandising targets for 2026/27.

United: four quarters, one big one

Quarter by quarter, the year’s 8.2% growth has a clear shape. The four quarters add up to the year’s £156.8 million:

  • First quarter: £37.2 million, up 11.0%. The in-house online shop traded three full months, against one in the same quarter a year earlier.
  • Second quarter: £41.3 million, down 1.9%.
  • Third quarter: £43.9 million, up 36.3%. The release links it to stronger trading tied to improved on-pitch performance, plus a one-off credit relating to amended terms of the online business.
  • Fourth quarter: £34.4 million, down 7.0%.

The third quarter alone added £11.7 million of the year’s £11.9 million growth. The release does not give the size of the one-off credit, so the underlying growth rate cannot be worked out from the public numbers. If the adidas agreement sits in this line, its revenue was roughly flat (about £86 million against £88 million), so the growth came from the rest of the line.

Geography: neither club splits revenue by market

Neither club says where its merchandising is sold. Dortmund’s report says only that revenue was mostly generated in Germany, and names the United States (where the 2025 Club World Cup was played) and Asia (a Japan tour in July and August 2026) as its international priorities. United’s annual filing says all revenue derives from its principal activity in the United Kingdom, which describes where the business operates, not where customers are.

What to take from it

Five checks before comparing any club’s numbers:

  1. Which competition paid? League finish, European matches and cup runs are paid differently, and the Club World Cup straddled two of Dortmund’s financial years.
  2. What does each line include? Dortmund’s merchandising covers fan articles and licences, with the kit supplier under advertising; United’s combined line appears to include its kit supplier’s payments.
  3. How many months did each side of the comparison sell? A shop with one month of trading in one year and three in the next shifts the result before a single fan buys anything.
  4. Is there a one-off in the number, and how big is it? At United, one-off costs explain most of the operating swing.
  5. Did volume or price move, and what sits below operating profit? Dortmund sold more and earned less. United’s operating profit improved while financing costs widened its loss.

Two clubs in one year cannot describe a league. They do show what to check before putting one club’s numbers next to another’s, or one year’s next to the last.

We make licensed collectibles and merchandise at Am Ball, so we read these lines closely. If you are looking at your own merchandising numbers and want a second pair of eyes, write to eg@amball.com.

Related reading: Bundesliga Merchandising in 2026: Who Does It Best? and State of the Licensed Sports Merchandise Market: 2026.

Sources and method

  • Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA, Jahresfinanzbericht 2025/26 (German PDF, 28 September 2026): season and results on pages 8, 33 and 54; advertising and the kit supplier on page 55; merchandising on page 56; cost of goods on page 59; stock on pages 63 and 157; membership on page 53; international activity on page 87; outlook on pages 93 and 97; subsidiaries on pages 132 and 133; revenue recognition on page 143.
  • Manchester United plc, quarterly results releases for fiscal 2026, all unaudited: first quarter (11 December 2025), second quarter (25 February 2026), third quarter (27 May 2026), fourth quarter and full year (23 September 2026; also the source for the league finish, home matches, player-sales profit, one-off costs and financing costs). Manchester United plc, Form 20-F for the year ended 30 June 2026 (revenue note with the broadcasting split and the two commercial lines, customer note with the adidas share of revenue, geography statement).
  • Deloitte, Football Money League 2026 (22 January 2026).
  • Our calculations from reported figures: Dortmund’s merchandising decline (3.4%), cost of goods rise (15%), advertising growth (2.8%) and membership growth (5.8%); Dortmund’s merchandising share of revenue (8.4%) and United’s retail line share (23.1%); the £28.4 million share of United’s operating swing; the domestic and European broadcasting changes (£58.9 million and £25.0 million); and adidas’s share of the retail line (more than half) with the remainder (about £71 million, roughly 10% of revenue). All other figures are as reported.