FC Barcelona will hold the assembly of delegate members this Saturday, which, for the fourth time, will be held electronically, after those that took place on April 3, June 16 and October 9, 2022. “We have put the plug on down the drain,” warned Eduard Romeu, economic vice president of the club, who analyzed the numbers in the press room of the sports city.
The club’s economic voice did not want to delve into the accusation of president Joan Laporta in the Negreira case. “He is in the hands of the club’s legal team. Nothing to comment on,” he said. He did point out that the outbreak of the case “obviously does not help. It is something that investors have taken into serious consideration. Investors are concerned that the money is safe and that it has a return. But we do not foresee any negative impact for the club,” he added. .
Then he broke down the numbers. Within the economic report that will be put to the vote on Saturday, to close the financial year of the 22-23 academic year, the club will present, thanks to the activation of the levers, profits of 304 million euros, a historic figure. It is precisely for this reason that the group of members who presented a burofax demanding that the assembly be held in person again do not share the criteria of the club that argues the need to hold the telematic assembly for reasons of savings. “The meeting was so that there would be as many explanations as possible. It is the last one we will do because we do not have to give preferential treatment to the rest of the partners either. It seems quite unfair to me that an exhibition is held inside the room and when there is media there is another. In any case, the explanations they requested were given. All partners can have their opinion,” Romeu slipped.
The numbers that the board will present also include income of 1,259 million euros while expenses have amounted to 1,165 million. “The first conclusion is that we have had income of 30 million higher than what we had budgeted. We have taken advantage of the year to make a charge for expenses that we would have had in subsequent years so that once and for all we can have a normalized year from a numerical point of view, without levers,” said Romeu.
Analyzing the expenses item – in total there were 1,165 million euros in expenditure, 100 more than budgeted – Romeu explained that “in the part of sports salaries there is an item of 20 million more of the budget and the non-sports item has an increase of 3 million. The 255 million management expenses correspond to the ordinary operation of the club: 57 million from BLM, 24 million from facility maintenance, 19 million from Seient Lliure, 17 million from travel, 15 million from LaLiga for the rights of television, 15 million from advertising and marketing, 15 from professional services, 14 from consumption and taxes, 13 million from Barça TV that we had to close. It was unsustainable. We didn’t want to but the content was not being worked on properly. We had no other option and We will find a way to get there,” Romeu said about the closure of the channel.
“There is also 13 million in sponsorship intermediation and 26 million in player transfers that are charged as an expense but at the same time are included as income and are compensated. And there is the existence of 35 million in non-sporting amortizations, 58 million in losses from transfers for the departures of Alba, Piqué, Griezmann or Mirotic, provisions for 37 million euros, contribution to Foundations for 8 million euros, 7 million in late payment or others. We also owe 208 million euros to other clubs in terms of transfers. Regarding agents, we have a transparency recommendation from UEFA that tells us to include the amounts we pay to agents. Before, it was incorporated into sports salaries. Barça has made a change in criteria as recommended by UEFA and now we pay a part and the other the player. The policy is that the new contracts become 50% of the club and will increase for this reason. Less is paid than before,” he concluded.
And he continued to recount the accounts, especially praising the good entries that the Camp Nou recorded. “The departure of the stadium represents an increase of 28 million, with matches with a lot of attendance in the stadium. From the commercial area there has been a very important development, with record turnover. It is excellent news. With the transfers of players we have -20 million, for the sale of Griezmann, which was 20 kilos to Atlético de Madrid when we had budgeted 40.”
The numbers will vary this course. Precisely with the exile to Montjuïc due to the construction of the Camp Nou, the epicenter of Espai Barça, FC Barcelona plans to earn 400 million euros less. That is, the Catalan club plans to earn 859 million euros for the 2023-2024 academic year, compared to 1,259 million for the 2022-2023 academic year (32% less).
Those 400 million difference are precisely what Sixth Street Partners paid to the Barça entity last season for 15% of the LaLiga television rights of the first football team for the next 25 years. This American fund already acquired, in its day, another 10% of the same television rights in exchange for 267.5 million. “Without this lever we would have income of 855 million,” explained Romeu. “The other operation that represents almost 200 million results corresponds to the allocation of 51% of the value of Bridgeburg. The assessment is that we are satisfied with the Bridgeburg operation, it is very good for the club and we do not sacrifice income. We are not satisfied with the sale of television rights, which was a necessity,” Romeu added.
Regarding Libero, a German fund that had to pay 40 million in the reactivated Barça Media lever for 120 million euros but that has not yet arrived, Romeu explained that “if it is not them it will be others, I mean that there are no defaults with Libero. At all times he expressed his willingness to make the payment in the last quarter of the year. We could have had Libero’s 40 million by accepting a series of pre-sales that were not good for the club. We resolved the club’s priority with the guarantee of the board. Now we continue negotiating. But the situation is normalized,” he insisted.
This year, in addition to those 400 million from television rights, Barça will also stop earning another 78 million from the exploitation of its stadium due to its move to Montjuïc. Although he hopes to compensate that amount by earning 28 million more for his participation in the Champions League – he hopes to reach at least the quarterfinals after two seasons of being eliminated in the group stage – and with another 27 million derived from the expected growth in the sponsorships.
To those 56 million budgeted extra income we must add another 65 million for some loans and the transfers of Ousmane Dembélé, Nico González and Ez Abde in this summer market.
To compensate for the drop in income derived from the lower traffic received at the Barça Store at Camp Nou, as it is affected by the works, the club has opted to diversify and expand the license exploitation business. Currently, FC Barcelona already manages a dozen establishments, the last two recently opened in Poble Espanyol and in the Arenas Shopping Center in Plaza de España. Two strategic bets to meet the demand of fans who travel to the Olympic Mountain on match days.
The Barça entity is clear that this season it will have to live in a ‘war economy’ and, for this reason, it has decidedly opted to reduce expenses by 28%. Going from 1,163 million euros to the 831 million budgeted for the current year (331 million less). The budget also contemplates Barça’s qualification for the Champions League quarterfinals. “Not reaching them would be 25 million euros less, but I am convinced that we will meet the objectives. Last year it was 23 million, it would be similar. An agreement has already been reached to remunerate the players for titles, not for going going through phases,” he explained.
The club’s economic vice president expects that this spending reduction figure will come mainly from the reduction of 184 million euros in sports salaries (27%) and another 146 million derived from various concepts, including the ordinary management of the club. “We hope that the lever concept disappears and we can talk about ordinary income. It is true that we have the operations of the transfer of 49% of BLM and 49% of Barça Media approved and that we have not executed,” recalled Romeu who does not lose in view of the resolution of the Super League ruling that would imply extraordinary income of 400 million euros. “We trust that the resolution will be favorable, always with an understanding with UEFA. Our vocation is not to break anything. We want what we generate to have an impact.”
The fiscal year numbers for the 22-23 academic year and the budget for 23-24 will be put to the vote on Saturday. Despite the works at the Spotify Camp Nou, the Board will be established in the Auditori 1899 and the 4,451 delegates summoned to this assembly who want to register, ask questions and cast their vote will have to fill out a participation form on the club’s website blaugrana.
Accredited persons may ask questions by videoconference, accessing the virtual room, or in writing through a space provided on the website that will open on October 18, at 9:00 a.m., and will close on October 19. , at 7:00 p.m. To vote, they will also do so from the virtual room. Without the defunct Barça TV, the assembly will be televised by the Televisió de Catalunya channel, Esport 3, and its website www.esport3.cat.
The 4,451 delegate members called are the same as in the June and October 2022 assemblies, since they were chosen for two seasons in the draw that took place on June 3, 2022.
Before explaining the numbers, president Joan Laporta will issue a report. And, beyond the numbers, the sponsorship contract with Ambilight TV will also be ratified, the current situation of Espai Barça will be reported and the assembly will close with the traditional report of the Members’ Trustee in addition to an open session of interventions and proposals from members in accordance with the provisions of article 20.11 of the club’s Statutes.
