The move to Montjuïc during the works at the Spotify Camp Nou is penalizing Barcelona, which outside of Les Corts is hurting its pocketbook and also its classification. Outside the house it is cold, more than expected. On a sporting level, the team has lost three games in addition to the draw they lost against Granada. If it weren't for those 11 points that flew playing in front of the culé crowd, Barça would currently be leading the League ahead of Madrid and Girona. But almost as important is the deficit caused in the economic budget. Barcelona, at this point in the year, is 30 million below what was expected and this is partly due to the decrease in ticketing for matches at the Lluís Companys.
It is not the only game in which the club has not met its objectives. The Líbero company did not receive the expected 40 million as part of the Barça Vision lever, but in this case the board is reluctant to include that amount as a deficit because it is still confident that it will be obtained. In the Champions League, on the other hand, the board calculated that it would add 15 points in the group stage and in the end it could only amass 12, so it had a negative impact of 2.8 million in the box office. Another aspect that has affected was the cancellation of the friendly match on the tour against Juventus due to the virus that affected the squad, which cost 2 million.
From the club they emphasize that those 30 million are “an acceptable detour when you are in the middle of the season.” But the truth is that, with regard to the drop in revenue at Montjuïc, there are only six matches guaranteed at the Olímpic (a maximum of eight if they reach the European semifinals) to turn around the decompensation. For this reason, the club is working on new sponsorships to balance the balance.
The vice president of marketing, Juli Guiu, explained in an interview with this newspaper that the plan was to earn 80 million during the entire campaign in Montjuïc. A generous amount, although quite far from what was paid into the Camp Nou.
Ticket sales have suffered. At first, Barça thought that having only 17,064 season ticket holders at the Lluís Companys could have its counterpart with the possibility of selling more than 30,000 seats each game. But the reality has been different. The squad lacks a great international attraction such as the figure of Leo Messi – he left in August 2021 – that attracts both local and foreign fans en masse. It is a locker room with many local people in which there are no stars with the status of footballers like Mbappé or Håland.
Barcelona has been able to attract 730,000 spectators among the 17 official matches plus the Joan Gamper trophy. It is a total that shows an average of more than 40,000 followers. The appearance of the stands, the animation and the support is not the problem but that the fundraising has not paid off. To get good tickets, given the lower demand, the club has had to lower the price of tickets and carry out promotions to increase interest. There have been discount codes of up to 40% and also family packs and two-match packages for 74 euros, like in March.
Another argument to increase income is the Barça Fest, an initiative at the Poble Espanyol venue to liven up the hours before matches. It debuted against Villarreal in February and costs 10 euros. Furthermore, tomorrow the tourist visits to the sports city of Sant Joan Despí will begin for 99 euros.
The record collection was the 7.6 million that entered the October classic with 50,112 spectators in the stands, while the worst cash was in the Barça-Almería, with only 34,471 fans, with 1.5 million in ticketing. The Montjuïc toll has unexpected fine print.
