Before the Christmas holidays, the Barça first team had to fly to dallasin the US, to play a friendly match. It was not planned, but necessity obliges. The club, with a slab on top almost 1,200 million in debt and a sporting evolution today that invites little optimism requires more income. Either that or reduce expenses, which is very difficult if you want a competitive team; or activate whatever policy Joan Laporta called levers, which is nothing more than the sale of assets (more than 800 million euros that have financially saved the last two seasons), which has already reached its limit. “The key is to get to the quarterfinals of the Champions League,” which costs around 25 million, says the club’s economic vice president, Eduard Romeu, in statements to EL PERIÓDICO.
In any case, despite unforeseen events such as a lower flow of income from tickets to Montjuïc, where Barça plays while the Camp Nou renovations last, the project called Espai Barça, “the balance is quite limited,” says Romeu. The person responsible for turning around the club’s accounts affirms that the income from merchandising and stores partially compensates for the lower revenue from tickets to matches, as well as from the museum, given the difficulties that buses with tourists encounter to access the stadium area in Les Corts.
But the truth is that the board does not even want to imagine the possibility of not reaching the quarterfinals in the Champions League, as happened last season. Romeu has an optimistic vision: “I look at it the other way around. We have seven games left to reach the final and two to reach the quarterfinals”, he asserts. And all this despite the sporting evolution with the recent bad results in the League or the defeats in the fields of Shakhtar Donetsk or Antwerp which, of course, “were not planned or expected.”
Commercial setbacks have been added to the sporting setbacks. The agreement between FC Barcelona and the companies Libero Football Finances and Nipa Capital, through which both funds became partners of Bridgeburg Invest, Barça Vision’s commercial brand, in exchange for taking over part of the percentage held by Socios.com and Orpheus Media. for 120 million euros, did not materialize. Now, with less haste, says Romeu, “negotiations have been entered into with other possible interested parties”.
And there is no rush for an accounting puzzle. Gavi’s injury, which has been a blow to the club in sporting terms, has another side of the coin: since the incident occurred in a match with the national team, Barça has the right to financial compensation linked to the player’s salary. They are resources that you can play with. And for this reason, the economic vice president assures that the star signing – this is how the club sells it – of the Brazilian Vítor Roque does not represent an accounting mess “although it did have an impact of six months” in the accounts.
In any case, an essential element of the financial puzzle is winning rounds in the Champions League. Without that, economic miracles are difficult. In addition, the improvement in sports results and victories results in greater ticket income, since the member and follower find it more attractive to attend the games; and more t-shirts and other products are sold.
The challenge of the Laporta board, which attributed the situation to the “inheritance received” from the previous board chaired by Josep Maria Bartomeuis to generate enough resources to grow without getting rid of more assetsincrease competitiveness to increase income through win competitions, sell t-shirts, merchandising and create other business avenues; contain spending and reduce debt as much as possible.
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And this despite the fact that with the sale of parts of the club it has become smaller. Until the Camp Nou works are completely completed – in which EL PERIÓDICO has uncovered alleged labor irregularities on the part of the subcontractor carrying out the works -, with an investment of almost 1,500 million, in the 26-27 season, the The maximum number of spectators at the Lluís Companys stadium in Montjuïc is around 45,000, compared to the 100,000 that the culé colossus will be able to host in three years.
The club closed last season covering the equity gap of 516 million, basically with the sales of assets. Romeu hoped to have plugged the leak, which manifested itself in structural losses of around 200 million a year due to ordinary activity (football and other sections). For now, the weight loss cure is already noticeable in the current season: income of 859 million, 32% less; and expenses of 832 million, 28.5% less.