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Barcelona is looking to sell twenty-five percent of its LaLiga TV rights to ease the financial woes that are plaguing the club.
Barcelona will hold an extraordinary assembly meeting on June 16, with its members to vote on whether the club should sell a minority stake in its Licensing & Merchandising subsidiary, and on the potential sale of 25 percent of its LaLiga TV rights revenue.
Barcelona said that club members would be asked to authorise “various financial moves”, including the acquisition by one or more investors of a minority stake of up to 49.9 per cent in its licensing and merchandising arm.
Members will also be asked to vote on the sale of a portion of Barcelona’s media rights income for LaLiga matches.
Read Also: Spotify Set to Announce €300m Shirt Deal with Barcelona
In December 2021, Barcelona opted out of LaLiga Impulso, the investment venture between the governing body of the top two divisions of Spanish club football and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao were the only top-tier clubs to opt out.
Barcelona’s latest announcement opens up the possibility for the Catalan club to now offer a portion of its commercial rights to CVC.
According to 2Playbook in Spain, the sale of a stake in Barcelona’s licensing and merchandising subsidiary could net the club €200m ($214m), while the sale of a portion of its media rights revenue could be worth €540m.
LaLiga generated a one-per cent increase in the value of its domestic pay-television broadcast rights in recent five-season deals with incumbent rights-holder Telefónica and subscription streaming platform DAZN. The Spanish top-flight announced that it would bring in €4.95bn – an average of €990m per year – through the sale of the rights from 2022-23 to 2026-27.
CVC is investing €1.994bn for an 8.2-per-cent stake in the new company controlling Spanish LaLiga media and sponsorship rights. LaLiga has insisted that all clubs which back the Impulso venture will be subjected to the same conditions.
Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao in March suffered a fresh blow in their opposition to LaLiga Impulso as a Madrid court denied their request for precautionary measures to be enacted against the scheme. The trio had called for a preventative suspension of the agreements adopted by LaLiga at its extraordinary general assembly on December 10, and the overturning of the acts that have since been performed under Impulso since its approval.
In March, Barcelona signed a wide-ranging deal with Spotify that grants the music streaming service naming rights to the Camp Nou from July 1, as well as branding on the front of the men’s and women’s teams’ shirts and training kit. Spanish media reports have suggested that the deal will be worth more than €400m in total.
At the end of last year, Barcelona members unanimously voted to support a €1.5bn financing operation needed to complete the Espai Barça infrastructure development project that will overhaul the Camp Nou.