Barcelona sells tv rights

[Fk_Pitt]

@mike412 Would love to hear your inside info as a fan. The Barcelona financial problems are well documented but how did they get here?

Barcelona have officially sold 10% of the club’s TV rights to Sixth Street until 2047, in exchange for a front up cash injection of €267million. Until this was done, they couldn’t fund transfers this summer.

 

[mike412]

How they got there is the subject of a criminal investigation. I’m sure the huge amounts they paid for Coutinho, Dembele and others helped sink them financially, but other clubs have made poor signings without getting anywhere near that much into the red.

Remember, they are a publicly-owned club with over 100,000 owners. The former President Bertomeu and his crew had to deliver public reports at least annually and never disclosed anywhere near this level of debt. All of a sudden, new management takes over and they discover the club is $1.5 Billion in debt.

That’s a lot of debt to be kept secret for 4 years.

They are, of course, more than a club — and I mean that literally. They have not only Barcelona Femini and Barcelona B which is in the Third Division, but they have a basketball team and at least 3 other sports in which they have teams. Plus, running La Masia. But, my guess is there had to be a lot of criminal activity involved and there will be arrests.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

How they got there is the subject of a criminal investigation. I’m sure the huge amounts they paid for Coutinho, Dembele and others helped sink them financially, but other clubs have made poor signings without getting anywhere near that much into the red.

Remember, they are a publicly-owned club with over 100,000 owners. The former President Bertomeu and his crew had to deliver public reports at least annually and never disclosed anywhere near this level of debt. All of a sudden, new management takes over and they discover the club is $1.5 Billion in debt.

That’s a lot of debt to be kept secret for 4 years.

They are, of course, more than a club — and I mean that literally. They have not only Barcelona Femini and Barcelona B which is in the Third Division, but they have a basketball team and at least 3 other sports in which they have teams. Plus, running La Masia. But, my guess is there had to be a lot of criminal activity involved and there will be arrests.

Dembele, lol. What’s he make, like 9 million per year? That’s 4.5 million per goal scored. I’m frustrated about that one because Chelsea are interested in him but won’t pay the money he’s demanding. But even at a reduction by 50%, I still don’t see how he improves the team. He’s a nice player but not an earth shatterer. We already have those.

 

[mike412]

Dembele turned into an excellent assist man in Barcelona this season. It came out of nowhere. He ended up leading La Liga in assists despite not playing in almost half the games.

If Chelsea is looking for a goal scorer, look elsewhere.

 

[mike412]

It was disclosed that in addition to selling 10% of their TV rights, Barcelona contemplated selling 49% of their merchandising rights to a group put together by a financial firm. The sale actually was approved in a vote of the Cules (100,000 members who own the club) but management backed out at the last minute. They reportedly were afraid that a 49% owner would have too much impact on the decision-making process.

Like Barcelona, Real Madrid are member-owned. But, they have no financial worries despite arguably making as many bad “big splash” transfer moves as Barca has in the past 8 years. Can you say Bale and Hazard? The big difference: Florentino Perez is the most savvy president in soccer and while they have missed on some big name transfers, they have hit jackpots on mid-level transfers who have grown into stars. Casemiro, Carvajal, Mendy, Militaio, Nacho, Rudiger, Camavingo, Valverde, etc. all have played key roles.

Not to mention Vinicius, Jr. , who was a steal at a big price and a good example of the former board at Barcelona’s incompetence. In the deal where they signed Neymar from his Brazilian team, Barcelona received options to acquire two junior Brazilian players in the future. They didn’t exercise them. He was one. Rodrygo was the other. (There were other possibilities from which they could select two; these were the two RM signed after Barcelona failed to act.)

Also, winning 4 Champions League Cups in 9 years has netted them an estimated $600 Million, which helps the bottom line.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

@mike412 Would love to hear your inside info as a fan. The Barcelona financial problems are well documented but how did they get here?

Barcelona have officially sold 10% of the club’s TV rights to Sixth Street until 2047, in exchange for a front up cash injection of €267million. Until this was done, they couldn’t fund transfers this summer.

What's interesting is that a private equity firm offered the Pac 12 $1 billion for, I think 15% of its future earnings or something like that. I have not heard of this type of financing in sports, especially college sports. I wonder if Pitt could make use of it.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

“Where do Barcelona get the funds from to sign Raphinha [and potentially beat #Chelsea to his signature]?

"I'll be honest, I don't know. People in football don't know, agents of players don't know. No one knows how they can manage it."

(@FabrizioRomano)

And now they are going to spend 50 euros to bring Lewandowski.

Barcelona still owe hundreds of millions to other clubs that they still haven’t paid. They still owe Liverpool for some of Coutinho’s fees. Think about that one. So no one knows how they are doing it currently.

personally, it doesn’t bother me. Someone needs to challenge Real Madrid. And I’m glad they found the money to sign Raphinha because I don’t believe he’s worth that kind of money and I didn’t want him GK going to Chelsea where he’s be benching Pulisic.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

So no one knows how they are doing it currently.

They are doing it by all but ignoring the financial rules in place. That's how you turn a club like that into billion dollar plus debtors.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

What's interesting is that a private equity firm offered the Pac 12 $1 billion for, I think 15% of its future earnings or something like that. I have not heard of this type of financing in sports, especially college sports. I wonder if Pitt could make use of it.

They probably could. And they should go down to the local payday loan place, because that's essentially what these types of deals are.

That deal will be pretty good for Barca in the very short term. And every year that goes by it's going to look stupider and stupider. In fact about the only way that deal works out for them long term is if all these financial problems cause the club to all but collapse, making the television rights they sold off worth less as time goes on, instead of more as will almost certainly be the case.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

They probably could. And they should go down to the local payday loan place, because that's essentially what these types of deals are.

That deal will be pretty good for Barca in the very short term. And every year that goes by it's going to look stupider and stupider. In fact about the only way that deal works out for them long term is if all these financial problems cause the club to all but collapse, making the television rights they sold off worth less as time goes on, instead of more as will almost certainly be the case.

It’s a sticking point for clubs doing business with Barcelona right now. They are demanding all fees paid up front because no one knows where Barcelona will be in a few years.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

 

[mike412]

Barcelona is selling another 15% of its television rights, which will enable them to register Rapinha and their other signings. They haven’t even been able to register Christensen before now.

What amazes me is that they have been so unsuccessful off-loading players who are not a part of the future. I think Lenglet is leaving in a loan but Umtiti, Braithwaite, Pjanic and Mingueza still are there. Reportedly, Mingueza is willing to leave but the others aren’t. Braithwaite has publicly said he needs to live in Barcelona because of his “business interests outside of football.” No one knows what he is talking about. Umtiti no one wants because of concerns about his knee. Pjanic won’t leave be because no team will offer him anything near the salary he gets at Barcelona.

Short-term the tv rights sale, is the bandaid, but long-term, their tv revenues will be 25% less every single year. They won’t be able to stay competitive I fear.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Barcelona is selling another 15% of its television rights, which will enable them to register Rapinha and their other signings. They haven’t even been able to register Christensen before now.

What amazes me is that they have been so unsuccessful off-loading players who are not a part of the future. I think Lenglet is leaving in a loan but Umtiti, Braithwaite, Pjanic and Mingueza still are there. Reportedly, Mingueza is willing to leave but the others aren’t. Braithwaite has publicly said he needs to live in Barcelona because of his “business interests outside of football.” No one knows what he is talking about. Umtiti no one wants because of concerns about his knee. Pjanic won’t leave be because no team will offer him anything near the salary he gets at Barcelona.

Short-term the tv rights sale, is the bandaid, but long-term, their tv revenues will be 25% less every single year. They won’t be able to stay competitive I fear.

What a team they are building though. Lewandowski deal is done and going through this weekend.

the business plan seems terrible. They’re mortgaging the future in order to sign players now. It doesn’t appear healthy.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

What a team they are building though. Lewandowski deal is done and going through this weekend.

the business plan seems terrible. They’re mortgaging the future in order to sign players now. It doesn’t appear healthy.

I thought the top Spanish teams have been doing bad financial deals forever that they can never really afford.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Barcelona is selling another 15% of its television rights, which will enable them to register Rapinha and their other signings. They haven’t even been able to register Christensen before now.

What amazes me is that they have been so unsuccessful off-loading players who are not a part of the future. I think Lenglet is leaving in a loan but Umtiti, Braithwaite, Pjanic and Mingueza still are there. Reportedly, Mingueza is willing to leave but the others aren’t. Braithwaite has publicly said he needs to live in Barcelona because of his “business interests outside of football.” No one knows what he is talking about. Umtiti no one wants because of concerns about his knee. Pjanic won’t leave be because no team will offer him anything near the salary he gets at Barcelona.

Short-term the tv rights sale, is the bandaid, but long-term, their tv revenues will be 25% less every single year. They won’t be able to stay competitive I fear.

Mike, is Xavi commited to Dest? I have heard rumblings here and there but he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. When Chelsea sells Azpilicueta and Alonso, I think Dest is a good fit because he can spell both the RB and LB position. But at the same time, if we are to believe this guy out of Madrid, Kounde will be coming to Chelsea afterall and it’s been said that he can spell at the RB position while he learns the Premier League. That that’s essentially what Azpilicueta does now-float between right CB and RWB/RB.

part of following the transfer windows is understanding the bias of those who report the news. Barca reporters have their bias, Chelsea reporters have theirs. And this guy is out of Madrid so he’s likely not Barca friendly.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Fabrizio is the best in the business. He’s the guy I take most seriously. It’s pretty apparent as I said that Chelsea are moving again for Kounde, and continue to talk to PSG for Kimpembe. It’s looking like it will be one or the other for Chelsea.

 

[mike412]

Xavi thinks Dest has potential. Koeman wanted him gone. But Xavi convinced them to drop Mingueza instead. He wants Dest as backup to Caesar as well as Alba if they don’t sign Alonso (I pray they don’t.) Dest isn’t bad on the left. He doesn’t go forward as much, which might be a good thing.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Xavi thinks Dest has potential. Koeman wanted him gone. But Xavi convinced them to drop Mingueza instead. He wants Dest as backup to Caesar as well as Alba if they don’t sign Alonso (I pray they don’t.) Dest isn’t bad on the left. He doesn’t go forward as much, which might be a good thing.

Will Barcelona play with wing backs? Because if they do I think you’ll find Alonso useful. Even last night, Chelsea was a bit lackluster in the first half. Then in the 2nd half they put a fresh 11 players out there, Alonso being one of them. And a lot of the attack was through Alonso on the left side. He assisted on the winning goal. He’s flawed, but he’s carved out a real nice career and scores an occasional worldie. Just wish he were a step faster.

 

[mike412]

They alway have played with two wingbacks: Alba and Alves in the golden years. Because of how thin and untalented they were at CB last year, they sometimes used 3 of them with Alba as the only wingback.

Personally, I would prefer a 3 CB, 4 MF lineup. With two fast guys up front on the wings in Fati and Dembele, I would prefer a more aggressive, attacking MF. They sometimes got overwhelmed last year by teams with 4 MFs, like Frankfurt.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

They alway have played with two wingbacks: Alba and Alves in the golden years. Because of how thin and untalented they were at CB last year, they sometimes used 3 of them with Alba as the only wingback.

Personally, I would prefer a 3 CB, 4 MF lineup. With two fast guys up front on the wings in Fati and Dembele, I would prefer a more aggressive, attacking MF. They sometimes got overwhelmed last year by teams with 4 MFs, like Frankfurt.

It’s time for Chelsea to forget about Kounde. They circled back and sent another deal over to Seville and it was rejected again despite personal terms agreed to with Kounde. They want 65 million which is way too much. I hope Boehly remembers this if Sevilla ever wants to do business with them in the future. Let them sell him to Barca. I gotta wonder if Barca would want to go that high in their situation. Time for plan C (Gvardiol).

 

[mike412]

Barca has offered $45 Million and I think they won’t go much higher.

I read that ESPN article yesterday on where Barca would have been if they hadn’t bought anyone on the transfer market in the last 7 years, and what astounded me is how truly awful their acquisitions were in the first two years after they won the Champions League in 2015.

Bartomeau was the President when they won it but he and his cabal had just taken over and had nothing to do with the success on the field that season. His first involvement was after that season, when he acquired two players, Turan and Vidal, for exorbitant sums who never were significant contributors. The next year, when they lost Neymar, he signed 7 new players, none of whom ever started more than 17 matches for Barca. I will give him a pass on Samuel Umtiti, who did start the 17 matches and was on his way to becoming one of the top fullbacks in Europe before injuries ruined his career. But, the other 6? No excuse.

Then, he went totally crazy and spent all of the Neymar money on Coutinho and Dembele. As the article pointed out, they never scored more goals and assists combined than the players they replaced, Pedro and Delefou, had averaged for Barca.

From then until now, the only really positive acquisitions that were made were DeJong in MF, Araujo at CB and Pedri at MF. Pedri was acquired as a junior, so in 7 years De Jong and Araujo were the only positive senior acquisitions of the Bartomeu regime.

It’s probably the worst list of acquisitions by any club head in history.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Barca has offered $45 Million and I think they won’t go much higher.

I read that ESPN article yesterday on where Barca would have been if they hadn’t bought anyone on the transfer market in the last 7 years, and what astounded me is how truly awful their acquisitions were in the first two years after they won the Champions League in 2015.

Bartomeau was the President when they won it but he and his cabal had just taken over and had nothing to do with the success on the field that season. His first involvement was after that season, when he acquired two players, Turan and Vidal, for exorbitant sums who never were significant contributors. The next year, when they lost Neymar, he signed 7 new players, none of whom ever started more than 17 matches for Barca. I will give him a pass on Samuel Umtiti, who did start the 17 matches and was on his way to becoming one of the top fullbacks in Europe before injuries ruined his career. But, the other 6? No excuse.

Then, he went totally crazy and spent all of the Neymar money on Coutinho and Dembele. As the article pointed out, they never scored more goals and assists combined than the players they replaced, Pedro and Delefou, had averaged for Barca.

From then until now, the only really positive acquisitions that were made were DeJong in MF, Araujo at CB and Pedri at MF. Pedri was acquired as a junior, so in 7 years De Jong and Araujo were the only positive senior acquisitions of the Bartomeu regime.

It’s probably the worst list of acquisitions by any club head in history.

That’s like Chelsea under Conte. I love the guy for winning us a premier league, but his signings were guys like Timmy bakayoko, david Zappacosta, Danny Drinkwater, and Ross Barkley. Drinkwater just now came off the books and zappacosta is long gone, but the other two are still on the books and none of the four never really played meaningful minutes.
As far as De Jong, he doesn’t want to go to Man U. Why would he? He’s on a champions leagues team at Barcelona but it seems Barcelona want to sell him to raise money? He’s being mentioned for Chelsea and for the life of me I don’t understand why. He’s a good player but we have all kinds of MF depth. So I’m not sure if Barcelona is floating him to Chelsea or what…

 

[mike412]

The story on DeJong when I was in Barcelona was that he and his gf (who moved there with him from Amsterdam) love living there so much that they don’t want to leave. She, in particular, has made great friends there and would be very angry about leaving. One story is that she flew to Manchester and spent a few days there to check it out. The trip supposedly solidified her position that she is staying in Barcelona. If he goes, he goes without her.

He also took a big salary cut to help the team financially, which would have to be repaid if he is sold. So a transfer won’t bring nearly the money people think it will. Plus, there were La Masia graduates who wouldn’t take pay cuts to help the team and he did. He doesn’t think trying to sell him relays that loyalty.

I think Barca has never figured out where to play him. He has played all 3 MF positions and hasn’t been able to settle comfortably in one. I think his best role is as a defensive MF, replacing Busquet. He is very good tracking back. Xavi has used him mainly in the other two positions though. People say they have Pedri, Gavi and Nico, all 20 or less, so they don’t need him. Pedri is versatile, but the other two basically play one position. None of those 3 is a potential Busquet replacement.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

The story on DeJong when I was in Barcelona was that he and his gf (who moved there with him from Amsterdam) love living there so much that they don’t want to leave. She, in particular, has made great friends there and would be very angry about leaving. One story is that she flew to Manchester and spent a few days there to check it out. The trip supposedly solidified her position that she is staying in Barcelona. If he goes, he goes without her.

He also took a big salary cut to help the team financially, which would have to be repaid if he is sold. So a transfer won’t bring nearly the money people think it will. Plus, there were La Masia graduates who wouldn’t take pay cuts to help the team and he did. He doesn’t think trying to sell him relays that loyalty.

I think Barca has never figured out where to play him. He has played all 3 MF positions and hasn’t been able to settle comfortably in one. I think his best role is as a defensive MF, replacing Busquet. He is very good tracking back. Xavi has used him mainly in the other two positions though. People say they have Pedri, Gavi and Nico, all 20 or less, so they don’t need him. Pedri is versatile, but the other two basically play one position. None of those 3 is a potential Busquet replacement.

The Azpilicueta deal seems to be close. Being that both clubs are in the US, “Dave” as he’s referred to at Chelsea can just jump on a short plane ride and meet up with his new club. Alonso deal is trickier as Chelsea are asking a little too much.