How to make money in ELDT: stadium, sponsors and wages

If you’re just starting out, the first question after picking your line-up is usually how to make money in ELDT. The short answer: your club finances are supported by the stadium, sponsors and prize money, and drained by wages and poorly judged signings. This guide covers what comes in, what goes out and how to manage your balance without ending up in the red.

Your starting cash depends on the division you begin in and it isn’t unlimited: if you spend the lot in the transfer market during your first month, the wages will still need paying.

How to make money: the club’s income

Most of the money coming into the club comes from a handful of sources:

• Ticket sales: every home match, by area (Popular, Platea and VIP).
• Concessions and merchandise: what people spend inside the stadium.
• Sponsors: up to 3 weekly contracts, one per stand.
• League and Copa ELDT prize money: for your final position or each round you reach.
• Player sales in the transfer market, minus commission.
• Commercial manager: if you have one, they add a percentage to ticket and concession income from every home match.

In Finances, you’ll find a breakdown of what each home match brought in, plus another showing everything that came in and went out over the last 30 days.

Where it goes: expenses

Then there are the expenses, and several of them run automatically whether you do anything or not:

• Wages for players and staff, every week.
• Scouts’ wages and academy youngsters’ wages: youth players get paid too, even if they aren’t first-team-ready prospects yet.
• Stadium maintenance: the stands cost money per seat, while upgrades cost 2% per month of the amount invested.
• Signings: the price plus a 10% commission.
• Construction, loan instalments and general expenses (federation fee, insurance and pre-season, during the first week of the month).
• Wealth tax: if your balance rises above $50M, a progressive percentage of your savings is deducted every Monday.

Income vs expenses in a typical week

| In | Out |

|---|---|

| Tickets, concessions and shop income (each home match) | Squad and staff wages (weekly) |

| Sponsors (weekly, by stand) | Academy and scouts (weekly) |

| League and cup prize money (end of season / per round) | Stadium maintenance (monthly) |

| Player sales (price minus 10%) | Signings (price plus 10%) and construction |

| Commercial manager (per home match) | Loan instalments and general expenses |

Your income grows with home matches, supporters and sponsors; your outgoings grow with every contract you sign. A manager who keeps a close eye on the books checks both columns before making a signing.

Ticket prices: guide figures and the supporters’ ceiling

You set the price for each area. The guide prices are Popular $500, Platea $2.000 and VIP $8.000. At those prices, the basic attendance is around 80% of Popular, 60% of Platea and 40% of VIP.

Charge above the ideal price and people stay away quickly (attendance can fall by up to 80%); charge below it and you only attract a small extra crowd (a maximum of 20% more). The sensible approach is to stay close to the ideal price, or just above it for big fixtures. Attendance also rises if you’re in the top 3 and falls if you’re bottom or it’s raining.

The real ceiling is set by your supporters: Popular can attract up to 70% of your supporters, Platea 25% and VIP 5%. With only a small following, raising prices brings in less money: you first need to win supporters through results, reputation and marketing. The stadium and staff guide shows how many supporters each result adds for your division.

Stadium: expand and improve without overbuilding

Each expansion shows you the extra income per match and how many home matches it will take to pay for itself. If an area isn’t full, the game will tell you: making it bigger won’t add anything, it will only increase maintenance costs.

Upgrades also affect your income: LED screens add 10% attendance, the car park adds 5% (and 15% in VIP), while the concession and shop levels increase how much each spectator spends. Marketing campaigns boost attendance for a few weeks and add a fixed number of supporters.

Sponsors: three stands, three contracts

Each stand can have its own sponsor at the same time: they are three separate markets. You’ll receive up to 3 offers per stand from brands with their own personalities: the cautious one pays steadily over a long period, the ambitious one starts strongly and improves if you push it, while the opportunist offers short contracts but hides the biggest potential margin.

You can negotiate for up to 2 rounds before signing, and the better your reputation as a manager, the better the offers you’ll receive. VIP pays the most, but filling all three stands is worth considerably more than having just one sponsor. If you haven’t signed anything, the club receives a basic flat sponsor payment based on its division, although it’s worth negotiating as soon as you can.

Wages: the expense that never lets up

Wages are paid every week, whether there’s a match or not. Each member of staff has a level from 1 to 5, costs a signing bonus when hired and then receives a fixed wage. The Staff screen tells you whether each one is earning their keep based on your club’s figures.

Two staff members help your finances directly: the contract agent makes players ask for lower wages when renewing, while the accountant adds financial score and warns you if your balance is going into the red. And one squad rule: an expensive substitute who never gets on the pitch costs the same as a starter, and someone in the transfer market may be willing to pay for them.

Season and cup prize money

At the end of the season, prize money is awarded according to your final position, with a multiplier based on the division: in Primera División, Argentina’s top tier, the champions receive $50M, runners-up $30M, 3° to 5° $15M, 6° to 10° $5M and 11° to 13° $2M; 14° and below get nothing. In the lower divisions, the amount is multiplied by a smaller factor; you can see the figures for your league in the League History tab. Copa ELDT pays for each round reached, with prize money rising to around $30M for the champions.

Balance in the red and loans

If your balance falls below zero, a message appears with two ways out. The loan to get out of the red: you borrow the amount you owe (minimum $500.000), without your score being checked, and repay it in 8 weekly instalments at 8% per week. Or there’s the emergency sale: the game sacks all your staff except the manager and sells players at random for 40% of their value until the debt is covered, while never leaving you without a goalkeeper or with fewer than 13 players.

While you’re in the red, the team performs 20% worse, and if you finish 2 consecutive weekly settlements in the red, you lose the club. To avoid that, there’s the bank, with your financial score (from 0 to 100) and three products: Emergency, Operating and Infrastructure. Financing always costs more than paying in cash; read the finance guide before signing anything.

Frequently asked questions

How can I make money quickly in ELDT?

There’s no magic shortcut, but there is a sensible order: sign sponsors for all three stands, set prices close to the ideal and sell players who aren’t getting game time. The prize money comes later, with the results.

What happens if my balance goes into the red?

The game offers you an emergency loan or an emergency sale, while your team performs 20% worse. If you finish two consecutive weeks in the red, you lose the club and it is handed over to a bot.

What is the best ticket price?

The guide prices are Popular $500, Platea $2.000 and VIP $8.000. Raise them too much and you empty the ground; lower them too much and you only attract a few more people. With few supporters, the limit is set by your following.

How do I get better sponsors?

Your reputation as a manager improves the offers, and you can negotiate for up to 2 rounds before signing. It’s best to have a contract for all three stands.

Knowing how to make money is half the job of a manager; the other half is winning. If you want to try running a club’s finances for yourself, you can create your club and start in the promotion divisions, without downloading anything.