The only way to clean up the FC Barcelona stop by to sign a big mortgage. A mortgage with many conditions, such as the borrowed money not appearing as debt but as capital. A mortgage that will entail giving up a percentage of the future income of the club for a long time, although the will of the board of directors is that it does not extend 50 years, as claimed by some of the borrowers. A mortgage built through five economic levers that are being negotiated by the club today.
CVC Capital Partners
The first lever is CVC Capital Partners. The most advanced of all of them, would mean an immediate income of €270 million although the club could only use the 15% (40 million) to lighten the salary limit imposed by the League. This is, furthermore, the background that requires a link throughout 50 yearsanother thing that is out of kilter in the club, and demands the 10% of audiovisual rights from the League. The agreement has been closed for months, only pending signature because it does not convince the board of directors.
Goldman Sachs
The second lever is Goldman Sachsthe finance company that will pay for the works to build the Barça space through a line of credit of up to 1,500 million euros. could contribute 900 million hit in exchange for 30% of audiovisual rights. It has not transpired for how many years the agreement would last, but here we are talking about very significant figures. Barça currently earns some 280 million from television. 30% represents an annual amount of about 85 million. If to this we add the 10% CVC about the 167.5 million that the club enters from the League rights, we would be talking about other 17 million of euros. Total, more than 100 million annually that would be directed to pay this mortgage.
All Sports Finance o SportsFi
The third lever is All Sports Finance (ASF), another investment fund linked to sports. As he has published The confidentialthey are willing to put up 400 million as capital and another 200 million as debt. Altogether 600 million, but it has not transpired in exchange for what. In principle it would be an alternative to CVC o Goldman Sachs. Or she could go hand in hand with the latter. The firm, also known as SportsFi, defines itself as “a digital financial market and technology company for the sports sector that combines traditional finance, digital assets and financial services.” “It facilitates the securitization, lending and trading of sports/media assets, contracts and receivables, both in the real and virtual worlds,” they explain about themselves.
Barça Studios
The fourth lever is Barça Studios. This is the company created by the FC Barcelona and intended for the audiovisual sector. production of series such as Matchday and documentaries, exploitation of the club’s new pay television (Barca OTT) and the program Culers Membershipintroduction of the club in the eSports or in the new cryptocurrency market, NFT and the metaverse. The entity aspired to get 350 million euros for this lever, although the most realistic estimates point to a cap of 200 million. In this case, the investing partner would acquire 49% of the company and share the operating profits with the club.
Barça Licensing & Merchandising
The fifth and last lever is BLM (Barça Licensing & Merchandising). As in the previous case, it is a company created at the time (2018) by the club’s board of directors, although in this case by the Josep Maria Bartomeu. The objective is to exploit the commercial business, the merchandising of t-shirts and products, and the so-called retail. A business that previously operated Nike for Barça and that for the last four years has been managed entirely with the resources of the Catalan club. Currently, the club negotiates with the company Fanatics to join the company as a partner to develop the business in exchange for an injection of money and 49% of the shares. The amount remains to be seen but all information indicates that it will range between 200 and 400 million euros.
SAD risk
All these levers are part of the club’s negotiations to inject money before June 30. The goal is to reverse the club’s negative net worth (-450 million euros) and the estimated losses for this season around €120 million. As soon as the balances have been compensated for those 550 or 600 millioneverything that is entered will go directly to expand the salary limit of the Ligawhich is currently -144 million. However, we must not forget that getting all this fresh money means a mortgage for many years for the club where, for now, the club would have to deliver some 100 million euros annually to the borrowing funds. This, plus the loss of 49% of two new businesses such as BLM and Barça Studios, is a latent risk that brings the club closer to the Sports Public Limited Company model.
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