On the last day of the financial year, Barcelona made official the sale of 10% of its La Liga television rights for the next 25 years to the US fund Sixth Street. For this understanding, the club will receive a total of 207.5 million that will basically serve to balance the accounts and not end the accounting balance in the red. To sign players and generate financial fair play, he will have to activate other levers in the coming weeks.
It was an open secret for a couple of days and this Thursday came the smoke of the agreement between Barça and the US fund, which also has deals with Real Madrid.
According to Barcelona, with this operation the club generates a capital gain of 267 million euros for the season that ends today.
“We are activating the economic levers and executing our patient, sustainable and efficient strategy to strengthen the financial base of the club”, affirms the president of Barça, Joan Laporta, who values the experience of the new Barcelona member. “Sixth Street is an experienced global sports and media investor and partner who will bring significant knowledge and resources, allowing us to independently manage our operations.”
“We believe in the strategy of Joan Laporta and FC Barcelona, and we are proud that one of the most successful clubs has chosen us to be their partner and provider of capital solutions”, says Alan Waxman, co-founder and CEO of Sixth Street.
Beyond Real Madrid, this American fund also has Spotify in its client portfolio, Barça's main sponsor as of July 1, although its website above all boasts of its link with the renewable energy business, a sector that shares with the company Audax whose vice-president is also the economic vice-president of FC Barcelona, Eduard Romeu.
Activating this economic lever helps Barça to close the year without losses. But it is not enough to increase the salary limit of the squad that allows Barça to go to the transfer market. For that there is still work to be done. During the month of July, the club will work to activate the sale of another 15 percent of the television rights for which it hopes to earn another 300 million. The sale of up to 49.9 percent of BLM will also continue to be negotiated. This operation is, for the moment, on 'stand by' after the negotiations with the company Fanatics and Investindustrial, which proposed an injection of 200 million euros, have stalled.
