According to experts, one secret company is prepared to pay 80 million euros to the Barcelona football club for advertising its brand: the logo on the front of the T-shirt, sleeves and training kit of athletes. If both sides agree, this deal will become the largest in the history of the football industry.
In general, Barcelona’s financial situation is not the best. Due to the pandemic, the football club has a debt of about 100 thousand euros. And this is the team that was the richest one with income exceeding 1 billion euros just a year earlier, before the pandemic. Besides, this is not their only problem: soon, the “profitable” sponsors will terminate the cooperation. For example, Rakuten from Japan has already stated that they will not renew the contract for the new football season 2022/23. The current partnership of Barcelona with this company brings about 55 million euros per year.
In early October, FC Barcelona showed its financial report on the results of the last football season. Actual revenues amounted to 631 million euros, which is 26% less compared to the previous financial year. But the club began to spend only 19% more, which is 1.136 billion. This amount is a record number in the history of the club. As a result, 2021 led to a negative balance.
The financial situation of the Barcelona football club was also affected by the departure of some famous football players. For example, a well-known and talented Argentine player, Messi. The fans constantly focused their attention on it while placing bets on football. The president of Barcelona previously said that the annual income from this player was 200 million euros, which is 30% of the total club income. After leaving the team, many large partners who brought good financial profit refused to continue cooperation. As mentioned above, the Japanese company Rakuten, which has been their main sponsor since 2017, first reduced its payments to 30 million euros and then completely stopped cooperating with this football club due to the departure of Messi.
Rakuten said that they are highly dissatisfied with the management of the club. The company also stated that Barcelona did not appreciate how valuable the sponsorship was. The club’s management thought they were more important and did not even try to show what their sponsor was doing, how useful they were, and how proud they were of such cooperation. Many experts and fans knew that the football club had such a sponsor, but according to the survey results, no more than 5% of respondents knew what the company was doing. This is a terrible result because Rakuten’s cooperation with Barcelona lasted four years. Now it becomes clear why the Japanese company was offended and refused such collaboration.
There’s always a solution
Experts believe that it is possible to solve these problems. In this situation, the funds raised to reconstruct the Camp Nou stadium and the adjacent territory will help. Also, the football club itself has calculated that it will be possible to reduce the expenditure in the new year if employees salaries are reduced. At the same time, revenues will increase by about 21% per annum and amount to 765 million euros. In this case, if these goals are achieved, the debt for 2022 will amount only to 19 million euros.
To date, Barcelona, due to all the circumstances described below, is searching for a title partner. Note that the requirements are not the most lenient – starting from 55 million euros for cooperation. According to the football club management representatives, they believe that those companies and brands that want to make it to the players’ uniforms should be generous and prepared to pay a decent amount.
Rakuten is not the only sponsor of Barca that has not extended cooperation for the new 2022/23 football season. The Turkish electronic equipment company Beko also no longer works with this club. Earlier, Beko supplied Barcelona players with training equipment with their logo. The club’s profit from this partnership was 19 million euros per year.
Focus on the game, and the sponsors will come themselves
However, according to the latest information from several local mass media, Barcelona has already received several exciting and promising offers for cooperation. For example, a crypto exchange company, prepared to pay 70 million euros a year plus another 20% on top, depending on the results of both Barcelona teams, has contacted the club. An online learning platform from India has also shown interest in partnership. This company has offered a little less, but still a reasonably good amount for cooperation: 58 million euros per year and 15% bonuses.
But even these are not the most profitable offers. According to the world media, a short while ago, Barcelona received one of the most profitable offers in the club’s entire history. Who is it? The football club managers said that they were contacted by the investment fund of the government of Saudi Arabia, which is ready to pay 100 million euros a year. This is a considerable amount, and the club could immediately solve all their problems with debts and reach a positive annual balance. However, the Barcelona management approached such a proposal with great caution at the meeting. This is because the club’s charter includes a list of principles to fight against gender inequality and discrimination, homophobia, sexism and racism. All this is contrary to the state laws of Saudi Arabia. Therefore, in this situation, the club’s management needs to consider all the pros and cons of the transaction carefully. It may even require the advice of experienced specialists in international conflicts and ways to resolve them in case there is a need to do so.
Summing up, these are not easy times for Barcelona. Not only sponsors are essential for the club’s success, but also the actual game on the field, which depends on the players. They also have problems with athletes, but the football club’s reputation can easily solve them. As experts say, there will be a high-quality game if there are good players. The more wins, the higher the team’s ratings are, and the sponsors will come themselves. And the management may really need to focus on the composition of the squad, its preparation and results. Now, after passing 13 rounds, the team is in a low for this club seventh place, with only 23 points.
