FC Barcelona Finances

[Mitchell1978]

helpful read

Even though Laporta claimed, “This will all take place under the criteria of financial sustainability and prudence”, it does feel like this approach of “short-term gain, long-term pain” means that #FCBarcelona have learned precious few lessons from the mistakes of the past

The politicians in charge have changed but Barca continues to be the worst run club in football.

 

[Respekt_III]

[MENTION=13941]Luftstalag14[/MENTION] from memory losses regarding us exceeding the salary cap are carried forward would have to double check to confirm though.

 

[Luftstalag14]

The politicians in charge have changed but Barca continues to be the worst run club in football.

In your opinion what should we have done?

Not saying you are wrong, I am not too happy with selling our assets either, but they don't have many other options.

 

[Porque]

The key take-home on that article is that football clubs in general are not sustainable nor profitable, and to get and stay to the top you need to spend more than you earn, and balance the this with either loans or financial doping like the oil clubs.

The only way to be profitable is to contract on every like Vincent Tan done at Cardiff, FK Sarajevo and KV Kortrijk. I am not sure how his model is at LAFC but presumably the same. But then, you will never be competitive at the highest level.

 

[El Gato]

Laporta never been a man to take measured approach, was always a gambling cigar man with a thousand lasses on his lap. Can't expect anything else.
Responsibility is massive. I wonder if the media put some of it on Xavi and the players - they're basically kind of going to be playing the next few years to prevent eventual repetition of downward spiral into permanent mediocrity at best or insolvency/club being put up on sale at worst. With Barto this wasn't so obvious, but now it's quite clear.

 

[serghei]

The key take-home on that article is that football clubs in general are not sustainable nor profitable, and to get and stay to the top you need to spend more than you earn, and balance the this with either loans or financial doping like the oil clubs.

The only way to be profitable is to contract on every like Vincent Tan done at Cardiff, FK Sarajevo and KV Kortrijk. I am not sure how his model is at LAFC but presumably the same. But then, you will never be competitive at the highest level.

Spot on.

UEFA must be fought against. Florentino is a genius. There is a lot at stake here.

If UEFA can't control the oil clubs and turn into their bitches, then you take away their power. That's what Alphas do. They are just one football association, a private entity in the end. You can always create another one.

 

[Luftstalag14]

The club won't be sold as long as it can take in enough to operate and sustain at a level to do well enough to repay its debt on an agreed schedule. However, the price we will be paying in the future, such as seeing our revenue handicapped for a couple of decades (until we buy back certain rights and assets) and paying a hefty fee on interest alone for our debt etc. will definitely adversely impact our ability to invest on the squads to invigorate ourselves and compete. We might become Milan, there is the real danger. However I think with careful planning under some smart and sophisticated professionals the club can bounce back.

Revenue-wise Espai Barca will be key, together with finding new streams of revenues such as what they have done with Barca Studios, BIHUB and eSports etc. Those are pretty visionary things that many other clubs have either not done yet or just have recently started picking up.

The result on the pitch certainly will be vital, it is after all what is driving the fans. I think if we maintain competitive enough in the league and Europe, I don't think we fill falter. Our revenue might not be the top 1, or top 3 any more, but top 5-8, shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Mitchell1978]

In your opinion what should we have done?

Not saying you are wrong, I am not too happy with selling our assets either, but they don't have many other options.

for starters, don't sell off future earnings

focus on youth, la masia

a couple of seasons of prudent spending (or no spending), fiscal responsability

off course that means accepting some difficult years trophywise

thats why having politicians in charge who only have short term intrests can be detrimental

 

[El Gato]

The club won't be sold as long as it can take in enough to operate and sustain at a level to do well enough to repay its debt on an agreed schedule

Which is dubious in itself as need to consistently take in enough to sustain contracts already on payroll?
I mean the deferred wages will be re-entering staff expenses, at least 3 contracts there (Busquets winding till next summer possibly owe him money after he goes, Pique and maybe Alba if he agreed to the cut?) plusminus FDJ and anyone else that got the extension under Barto. Auba for example may be moving to higher salary (~18) after taking 2M annual to move him back to a high earner position.

I dont think this is as rosy as you simply selling family silver and it'll be OK in 2-3 years time as things will stabilise.

Considering you're mostly investing in attack + maybe bringing in Kounde, the team results improvement is a must for you to rake in the desirable income and make it anywhere near sustainable.
And then there's matter of moving across to a smaller ground for as long as 2 seasons as [MENTION=22241]Porque[/MENTION] mentioned.

Revenue-wise Espai Barca will be key, together with finding new streams of revenues such as what they have done with Barca Studios, BIHUB and eSports etc. Those are pretty visionary things that many other clubs have either not done yet or just have recently started picking up.

What revenue stream is there in eSports lmao
Considering this is pretty much a startup for any club there's no stable income to be generated there unless you can convince me anything anyone designed for the service is actually visionary. The idea itself is not. Many have thought about it including Perez Super League Chiringuito interview where he raved about the new generation of kids being glued to TV screens playing games rather than going outside to play ball.

Conference venues are nothing new at all, new Bernabeu is gonna have one. Hell, Stoke City has one.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Which is dubious in itself as need to consistently take in enough to sustain contracts already on payroll?
I mean the deferred wages will be re-entering staff expenses, at least 3 contracts there (Busquets winding till next summer possibly owe him money after he goes, Pique and maybe Alba if he agreed to the cut?) plusminus FDJ and anyone else that got the extension under Barto. Auba for example may be moving to higher salary (~18) after taking 2M annual to move him back to a high earner position.

I dont think this is as rosy as you simply selling family silver and it'll be OK in 2-3 years time as things will stabilise.

Considering you're mostly investing in attack + maybe bringing in Kounde, the team results improvement is a must for you to rake in the desirable income and make it anywhere near sustainable.
And then there's matter of moving across to a smaller ground for as long as 2 seasons as [MENTION=22241]Porque[/MENTION] mentioned.

I am not talking about short-term, unless you think the deferred wages from those players will actually force the club to a point of being sold? Yes I am very well aware of the decline of revenue in the next several years before Nou Camp Nou is built. Worst case scenario, they will have to keep selling other assets or keep borrowing to get by, I don't think it would reach the point of insolvency or the club being sold. It is not going to be OK in 2-3 years, it will take at least 5 years perhaps.

What revenue stream is there in eSports lmao
Considering this is pretty much a startup for any club there's no stable income to be generated there unless you can convince me anything anyone designed for the service is actually visionary. The idea itself is not. Many have thought about it including Perez Super League Chiringuito interview where he raved about the new generation of kids being glued to TV screens playing games rather than going outside to play ball.

Conference venues are nothing new at all, new Bernabeu is gonna have one. Hell, Stoke City has one.

There is not much money generated for the club yet but many have joined the game, why? Future potential of income. Clubs and teams are attracting sponsors who believe people will spend more time online on games etc. than watch live sports, I suppose.

What conference venues?

 

[El Gato]

What conference venues?

Isn't that what BarcaStudios are meant to be? Not really aware but thought it's just a presentations venue type thing.
The BIHUB is just a tech museum/research centre by looks of it and these are never as profitable as they sound, unless they attract tech magnates for whatever project they want to support and get the rub by proxy.

Upon further reading - BarcaStudios is just a more fancy BarcaTV facility. Where's the revenue in that?

 

[Luftstalag14]

Isn't that what BarcaStudios are meant to be? Not really aware but thought it's just a presentations venue type thing.
The BIHUB is just a tech museum/research centre by looks of it and these are never as profitable as they sound, unless they attract tech magnates for whatever project they want to support and get the rub by proxy.

By "conference venue", you mean a multimedia and streaming platform? If so, yes. Finding ways to attract, embrace and entertain fans outside of the 90 minutes, basically. It is not making much money right now, the "Match Day" series did do pretty well from what I read, generated decent amount of money in overseas markets. I think they want to produce more content and sell them to other platforms etc., we will see.

You are right, BIHUB for the most part is a research center but they are partnering with startups to hopefully have a stake in new technologies and get a share in future sales of products and services etc. You guys have your version of it too, "Real Madrid Next" I think it is called. So do some other clubs like Valencia, Celta etc. Not returning much money but it is the right place to be in for the long haul, definitely.

 

[El Gato]

Dont really know the ratings or how much attention the club media receive, but only time I ever watch RMTV or anything produced by it is probably the Cibeles championship stream parade.
Unless anyone licenses something out of that, they have basically no product to be relevant for club raking in additional money from it and help balance the books.

Research centres are not for profit in general. Wouldn't hold my hopes for it being useful, but then again, I was never involved with tech projects whenever I collaborated with them.

Reckon merch sales will surpass both those any given season lol

 

[Luftstalag14]

Sure, currently merchandise sales surpass those two by a lot. I think the clubs are betting on these for the long haul and the future, kind of like of how Amazon was when it just started dabbling in content stuff a long time ago.

 

[Zidane82]

Have we triggered the 2nd lever yet !?

Here is info on the third lever !

;:

The idea in discussion is the sale of 49% of Bar?a Studios, a line of business that is currently running under loss. Negotiations are already underway to sell the audiovisual production and everything related to the Metaverse and NFT. Bar?a expects to earn about 200 million euros and, additionally, find a partner who can help make Bar?a Studios turn profitable, enabling the club to obtain revenue from the 51% shares that will remain.