Latvian football’s finances – the real engine behind victories and defeats – were dissected in the latest episode of TV4’s “(bez)maksas sports“. Contributors, including BFC Daugavpils director Nauris Mackevičs, Super Nova chief Jānis Engels, and Ogre United co-founder Emīls Latkovskis painted a picture of a league where survival is often more important than success.
Mackevičs was blunt about the sums. “Eighty percent of our budget goes to salaries. Even the smallest Virslīga club cannot function on less than 400–500 thousand euros a year,” he stressed. And even that figure is deceptive. “You make a budget, but then come the hidden costs – refereeing, medicals, pitch rental. Suddenly the plan is blown apart.”
Engels added that the costs of referees alone can swallow a significant part of a small club’s monthly spend. “It’s easy to think that only players cost money. But in Virslīga, everything costs – the pitches, the travel, the refs. These are not symbolic fees. They add up to tens of thousands over a season,” he noted.
Latkovskis, who co-founded Ogre United, offered the small-town perspective. His club, which competes outside the top tier, faces an entirely different reality from the Riga-based giants. “In Ogre we don’t have the same pool of sponsors, we don’t have a stadium that sells itself. Every euro is earned the hard way. But what we do have is a community – parents, local fans, volunteers – who believe in the project,” he said. He stressed that community involvement and careful management are often the only ways clubs outside the capital can survive.
The conversation also turned to geography. Riga and a few big cities attract the sponsors, while towns like Tukums, Ogre or Olaine struggle to keep pace. And yet, paradoxically, smaller communities often support their clubs more directly. “People in Daugavpils or Tukums care, they show up, but sponsors don’t. In Riga it’s the opposite – sponsors are there, but you’re fighting for attention with so many other sports and entertainment,” Mackevičs explained.
Examples of past collapses hung over the discussion. Liepāja’s crisis, which left players like Marks Pačepko and Krišs Kārkliņš scrambling for new clubs, was cited as a warning. Ventspils’ fall from European regular to financial ruin remains a cautionary tale. Jelgava’s earlier struggles were mentioned in the same breath. As one of the hosts put it: “It’s not just about football – it’s about livelihoods.”
At the same time, the rise of Riga FC and RFS has shown what professional structures and bigger budgets can do. Standards have risen. But that rise has dragged the rest of the league with it, forcing clubs with modest resources to either catch up or collapse. “If you want professionalism, you need resources. But resources here are always limited,” Engels said.
Coaches and former internationals such as Jurijs Žigajevs, Andrejs Štolcers and Edgars Gauračs were name-checked as people who understand the double bind – the romance of football against the hard arithmetic of spreadsheets.
And then there are the practicalities of infrastructure. Stadium costs vary wildly: in Riga, availability is scarce and expensive; in the regions, facilities exist but need investment. That leaves clubs stuck in the middle – unable to upgrade because they are already stretched just to compete in the Virslīga.
The programme closed on a reminder of what is at stake. Latvia’s top clubs dream of Europe, but even those who reach continental qualifiers face costs – travel, logistics, licensing – that eat away at the small gains of prize money. “Every point matters,” Mackevičs summed up, “but sometimes every euro matters even more.”
