The sponsors wish that Barca competes for CL titles, La Ligas and what not because that is what Barca is known to do. But the sponsors do not care if Barca ruins itself doing so, because once that happens they will just sponsor another club. You will not maintain the revenue you are used to if you take a diet. I'm not going to lie here and say that the previous fantastic revenue figures are still possible. But this is okay, because revenue is not the same as profit. If you cut the costs long term, then a lower revenue will not be the ruin of Barca. As long as you operate under a profit, you are doing fine. Maybe not in the reach of CL titles for a while. And when I say say "a while" I really mean that Barca fans here will not discuss CL titles and Mbappe/Haaland signings for the next 5 years. But at the very least you might come out stable enough to maintain the status of a sovereign club that doesn't need to be bailed or bought out and turned into a private company that will eternally get bleed out. Once those main issues are resolved, you can still go go back and play "top club".
Sponsors choose a club to sponsor because of the appeal, influence and outreach the club has, it is easier to market your (the sponsor's) brand name and product if the club you sponsor has a lot of fans, supporters and followers who watch the games and follow the club. Barca is the most followed club in the world going by the number of social media followers and the number of interactions (likes and comments etc.). Granted that we will lose some due to Messi's departure (the effect remains to be seen and measured), it is still going to be quite popular I take. However, if we don't have anybody that is seen as the face of the club like Messi was, and particularly if we struggle on the pitch, the popularity of the club will nose dive and its influence will wane, that is a given. If that happens, sponsors will flee, which means we will not have the money to attract top talents outside etc., that's how you will become Arsenal or worse, Milan. I doubt the club will be willing to accept that fate.
Again, I agree given the magnitude of our financial woes we will need some austerity, look within and rebuild (both sporting-wise and financially) will take time; however at the same time we are Barca and we can't just be satisfied with being in the middle of the table in Europe. We will always compete for the La Liga title, and yes, CL is out of touch for several years. Barca should absolutely learn from Real Madrid in this regard, they lost Ronaldo and hardly took a dent financially or status-wise, other than Hazard they have not spent big over the last several years and have been very disciplined managing their transfers and payroll. Yes we are financially worse than them (1.2 billion in debt vs. 900m in debt) but if they can stay up in turbulent times, so can we.
