How much will Barça's deficit be at the end of this season? According to the most optimistic, the gap will reach a figure greater than 100 million euros next June, a deviation well above the 30 million that a member of the board chaired by Joan Laporta recognized this week.
But that amount does not include the possible consequences of the failure of the IPO of Barça Media, the former Barça Studios, which could make the closing of the year much more complicated and widen the hole by over 200 million more. In any case, to balance the numbers, Barça will have to inflate its debt again. It must be remembered that currently this is 1,000 million net, not counting the 1,500 million for the Camp Nou works. The reality is that Barça faces two critical seasons, not only from a sporting point of view, but also economically, which in the end may be more relevant for the future of the sporting entity.
At the beginning of this season, it was the only one of Europe's top ten soccer teams that had not recovered its pre-pandemic income, that of the 2019 record campaign, when it topped the European and world rankings. It is currently the fourth in Europe. That weakness will remain, even worsen, at least at the end of this season and the next, according to the analysts consulted to prepare this information. Firstly, because the entity will not be able to have the Camp Nou fully operational, which limits box office income, due to the remodeling works. The only aspect, by the way, that is progressing as planned, even better, according to sources informed of the evolution of the construction project.
But the weak income also has to do with the famous levers that Laporta has put in place for two seasons now and which essentially boil down to the sale of assets to cover ordinary losses. They have as a counterpart reductions in income, which now have to be done with the new partners. And no new ones have been discovered to keep the bike going.
In the financial sector it is assumed that the club will soon have to undertake the negotiation of a new loan to compensate for the deficit. At the moment, the sources consulted assure, he has not taken the step. It is not strange, since Laporta usually waits until the last minute to resign himself and take the necessary steps. And this is one of the determining elements of the economic situation of the entity, the presidential management.
The club's financial problems, in truth, began before his second term. In the 2018-2019 season, when the president was Josep Maria Bartomeu. Since then, Barça has accumulated, year after year, ordinary losses at an average of more than 200 million annually. The problem is that Laporta has not only not reversed the trend, he has maintained it, even aggravated it. Despite promising austerity, he went on a rampage in spending on signings, financed by asset sales. That is why the latter have not reduced debt.
And with a management that arouses all kinds of suspicions about irregularities, protected by extreme opacity and with the personalistic methods of the owner of a small family business but within a corporation as unique as Barça. Without planning and with improvisation as the norm. An economy in the UVI and without strategic lines. Result: massive flight of executives and clashes with sponsors, when they do not accept the growing demands.
Overall, the seriousness of the situation is summarized in the fact that between 2019 and 2023 the club has accumulated ordinary losses of 1,120 million, a monumental figure to which this season's deficit must be added. Losses that not only prevent debt repayment; they elevate it inexorably. Only the sale of the crown jewels prevents an even worse reality.
One of the folders that has generated the most skepticism towards Laporta's management is the failed listing of Barça Media. Although it has not occurred, the club has made profits of 408 million. Miraculous phenomenon if you take into account that the company on which the landing in the New York parquet was based and which was to “accelerate the growth of the audiovisual and blockhain, NFT and Web3 strategy”, billed a symbolic sum in 2021: 470,000 euros.
Analysts had come to accept a maximum future valuation of 150 million, but the club found two investors – Orpheus, owned by businessman Jaume Roures, and Socios.com, owned by cryptocurrency operator Alex Dreyfus, – who agreed to set it at 400 million. In theory, they kept 49% of the company, although they initially disbursed only 20 million. A new Cypriot partner contributed another 20. So with 40 million, the club scored 408 million, ten times more, as an increase in assets and profits. Which raised its spending ceiling for signings for the purposes of the League's fair play.
But, finally, one of the funds that was supposed to contribute another 40 million, the German Libero, has not done so and the project has been stopped. This defection has set off alarm bells, since Líbero is considered a solvent investor, fueling suspicions about the project.
If not remedied, the fiasco could force the club to roll back most of the stated profits and charge provisions to the profit and loss account for an amount that could even exceed 200 million. This is what several experienced auditors consulted by this newspaper think about this particular problem.
