Victor Font

Barcaman

Barcaman

Administrator
Staff member
Catalan newspapers announced that Catalan businessman Victor Font has announced that he will run in the elections to become Barcelona president in 2021.

Font, under the slogan "Yes to the future", hopes to replace Josep Maria Bartomeu and has three fundamental ideas: modernise the club financially, put the sporting side of things in the hands of ex plyers and get closer to the club's members.

After initially appearing set to run in 2015, Font eventually decided to wait and work on his project, leaving the elections to Bartomeu, Joan Laporta, Agustí Benedito and Toni Freixa.

However, Font, who participated in Marc Ingla's 2010 campaign (which was won by Sandro Rosell) now believes he is in a position to run and has announced his candidacy three years in advance.

He has created a website (sialfutur.cat) in which he explains his project in four points:

LET'S WIN: "We need to gather the talent of the best generation of football players in history, and ensure that decisions in the sporting area are made by them." By the best generation of footballers, he means Pep Guardiola's Barça, with Xavi, Puyol and Valdés as reference points from La Masia.

LET'S COMPETE: "If we want to compete and at the same time keep the club’s ownership in the hands of its members, we must rethink the revenue generation model." According to Font, "we must be able to sell products and services directly to the millions of Barça fans all over the world, minimising intermediaries."

LET'S DECIDE: "It is necessary to redefine the club’s governance model and the members’ role in decision making." Font adds that "we must make sure that each decision made by the club is managed by those with the appropriate skills and experience. The prerequisite to join the board cannot be limited to the capacity to underwrite the club’s budget."

UNIQUE: "Let’s take advantage of Barça’s influence to help face the main challenges posed by 21st century society." For Victor Font, that means that "we must use the influence that Barça has all over the world to develop an ambitious set of initiatives to contribute to face the main challenges posed by 21st century society. We must prove that we want to continue being 'more than a club' in the future."

Víctor Font i Manté (Granollers, Barcelona, August 12, 1972) is a telecommunications, media and technology entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Delta Partners, a company with offices in Barcelona, Bogotá, Dubái, Johannesburg, New York, San Francisco and Singapur.
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Joan

Joan

Well-known member
There's a youtube video from a few years ago, talks about him, his project:

[youtube]Y3PyUWlg1wI[/youtube]
 
Luftstalag14

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
This Fortune article also touches upon some of Font's ideas. I am with him on needing to come up with a strategy to broaden the revenue streams in order to keep up with the pace of everything going up in sports. But the ownership must be in the hands of our members, this to me is non-negotiable.


But Barça’s ability to remain on top will depend on money. “It will be hard for a club owned by 150,000 members to either keep this ownership model, or if it keeps it, to continue competing at the very top level,” says Victor Font, CEO of Delta Partners, a global telecom advisory and investment firm, who is considered one possible successor to Bartomeu in 2021. Font, like Bartomeu and Piqué, has been a Barça member since he was an infant, as were his father and grandfather, and in 2015 authored a strategy plan for the club called Sí al Futur, or “Yes to the future,” after growing concerned over its long-term viability. He says members are generally content, since Barça continues to win titles. But he likens that relaxed attitude to ignoring climate change, saying, “If you are enjoying the weather, it is difficult to see it coming.”

Font’s strategy would mark a sharp break—and perhaps offer a blueprint for other clubs, as they try to modernize their operations. Under his plan, Barça would become something more resembling a multinational enterprise, able to capitalize on its giant global popularity. He says it makes no sense that a hugely well-known club like Barça doesn’t do more to monetize its massive fan base. He estimates each fan is worth just $2 a year to Barça now. If the club found a way to charge each fan a dollar a month—say, by subscribing to video-streamed matches—then 400 million fans would generate $6 billion a year. He also believes Barça should own its image rights and sell merchandise directly, rather than allowing Nike, Adidas, and others to claim the lion’s share of the value. “Clubs play a very small role in the value chain of football,” he says.

Font is not the first to suggest dramatic changes—and he echoes the worries of many in the football world. In 2008, eight Barça board members quit after disputes over future direction. Among them was then vice president Ferran Soriano, who had pushed to open Barça franchises around the world. The socios blocked the idea, fearing it might dilute the club’s Catalan roots.

Font agrees it is time for more professional FC Barcelona management. “The board should be a proper board, like the board of Apple or Uber,” he says. Instead of winning league trophies, there should be one true measure of how well the board is running Barça, he says: “Whether they will be able to compete in 2030.”
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A

Ascom

New member
We the desorientation of this board, we need this guy to come forward

A year ago, it was talked Bartomeu could resign sooner because of the rosell scandal but i doubt it's going to happen.
 
Barcaman

Barcaman

Administrator
Staff member
Leo_Messi

Leo_Messi

New member
Barcaman said:
What's being said there?
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Font is going to present his project to the club members in January. It is a continuation and elaboration of the project that he went public with last July of which the main talking points where the following;

“During the next decade, Barça will have to manage the replacement of the best generation of players in its history and tackle the challenge of economic competition with clubs owned by tycoons and states, while technology continues to transform the world we live in. If we want to continue winning and keep the ownership in the hands of the club members, a project led by talented people who have traditionally not been interested in the Club’s management is required.”

Joan Vehils is writing that he only knows Font a little (they have only talked 3 or 4 times), that he does not know about his project, who he is running with or his capacity for leadership so he cannot say upfront that he would be a better choice than Bartomeu or Cardoner (the continuity choice in 2021 when Bartomeu's mandate runs out). However he likes Font's bravery and decision to run as a president without much shouting, insults or unfortunate tweets. For that part we have politicians (he is referring to the political crisis in Catalunya and Spain).

I am not going to translate his article word for word but basically he is saying that the club needs more than just 1 Font. In fact 3 or 4 other alternatives as well. He is praising Font's ambition, the need for new faces, ideas and a removal from party politics and isms. He is here referring to the Laporta-Rosell rivalry. That there needs to be an open debate within the club and among the club members and fans how to confront Messi's looming retirement/farewell, the ever-growing financial strength of football clubs owned by billionaires, oil states etc.

He states that it is necessary for the club to find a unifying figure that can unite the club and make everyone work towards the same goal (improving the club) rather than party politics as seen before (for much of the history of the club).

That the upcoming winner should not be the result of his opponents incompetence.

Talks about that every candidate needs to be wealthy (he/she will need to put 6 million euros forward upfront to run for the presidency), have a clean CV, an entrepreneurial experience and a good team. Which might be one of Font's greatest challenges. Just like it has been a challenge for Bartomeu to find new qualified board members.

Talks about Font being rather unknown for known and that he would need a popular guy to run with. Uses Puyol as an example.

The last part of the article has nothing to do with Font but is about the deceased Spanish writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and a homage that he was given by his friend and writer Eduardo Mendoza and the current Catalan president of the Catalan Academy for Gastronomy, Carles Vilarrubí.
 
Barcaman

Barcaman

Administrator
Staff member
Leo_Messi said:
Font is going to present his project to the club members in January. It is a continuation and elaboration of the project that he went public with last July of which the main talking points where the following;

“During the next decade, Barça will have to manage the replacement of the best generation of players in its history and tackle the challenge of economic competition with clubs owned by tycoons and states, while technology continues to transform the world we live in. If we want to continue winning and keep the ownership in the hands of the club members, a project led by talented people who have traditionally not been interested in the Club’s management is required.”

Joan Vehils is writing that he only knows Font a little (they have only talked 3 or 4 times), that he does not know about his project, who he is running with or his capacity for leadership so he cannot say upfront that he would be a better choice than Bartomeu or Cardoner (the continuity choice in 2021 when Bartomeu's mandate runs out). However he likes Font's bravery and decision to run as a president without much shouting, insults or unfortunate tweets. For that part we have politicians (he is referring to the political crisis in Catalunya and Spain).

I am not going to translate his article word for word but basically he is saying that the club needs more than just 1 Font. In fact 3 or 4 other alternatives as well. He is praising Font's ambition, the need for new faces, ideas and a removal from party politics and isms. He is here referring to the Laporta-Rosell rivalry. That there needs to be an open debate within the club and among the club members and fans how to confront Messi's looming retirement/farewell, the ever-growing financial strength of football clubs owned by billionaires, oil states etc.

He states that it is necessary for the club to find a unifying figure that can unite the club and make everyone work towards the same goal (improving the club) rather than party politics as seen before (for much of the history of the club).

That the upcoming winner should not be the result of his opponents incompetence.

Talks about that every candidate needs to be wealthy (he/she will need to put 6 million euros forward upfront to run for the presidency), have a clean CV, an entrepreneurial experience and a good team. Which might be one of Font's greatest challenges. Just like it has been a challenge for Bartomeu to find new qualified board members.

Talks about Font being rather unknown for known and that he would need a popular guy to run with. Uses Puyol as an example.

The last part of the article has nothing to do with Font but is about the deceased Spanish writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and a homage that he was given by his friend and writer Eduardo Mendoza and the current Catalan president of the Catalan Academy for Gastronomy, Carles Vilarrubí.
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Cheers. The club will need more guys to run besides Font indeed. Reckon the press will have a big role too.
 
Andresito

Andresito

Senior Member
Staff member
He held a presentation today for his presidential candidacy in 2021. Puyol, Gaspart and Oscar Garcia among the attendees.

One interesting thing he proposed was a fee of €5 that fans can pay if they want to.
In theory it seems great. If it's easily accessible and has a good reach, it could be useful.

Among other things he proposed was electronical voting and voting for next seasons kits for socis.

[tw]1091033844684333058[/tw]
 
Joan

Joan

Well-known member
I predict Bartomeu's candidate winning comfortably unless a terrible season.

Should steal of his ideas, though. :bartomeu: I always wondered why such fee didn't exist.
 
Luftstalag14

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
Many clubs have some sort of fictitious "membership" (not real) or "become a supporter" programs that charge fans, especially overseas fans money for almost nothing. For example Real Madrid charges 35 euros a year to get a Madridista card that comes with some useless perks.

We should do the same, since becoming a real member of the club is such a hard and arduous process, we should issue some Cule or Barcelonista cards to fans with a small fee. It is another way of making some money and at the same time making the fans feel affiliated with our club. Why not.
 
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