FC Barcelona have officially confirmed that they have activated a fourth lever to generate €100 million in order to register their summer signings ahead of the new season.
Barcelona have confirmed they have officially activated their fourth economic lever of the summer.
The club have now sold a further 24.5% of Barça Studios to Spanish outlet Orpheus Media.
The Catalan's production house is now set to be renamed as Barça Digital Entertainment (BDE) and will focus on Web3, NFT, as well as digital growth.
With this latest deal, Barcelona have now officially sold a total of 49.5% of BDE for €200 million.
The club still retains a majority stake in the company, while bringing in extra revenue that will go a long way to help them register their new summer signings.
As it stands, though, the club is facing difficulties registering their new players – Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, as well as contract renewals for Sergi Roberto and Ousmane Dembele.
It was widely reported that Barça will register 4-5 players before the league opener against Rayo Vallecano.
However, with the activation of the fourth lever, coupled with the salary reduction of Gerard Pique, and possibly Sergio Busquets, the club may be able to register all players in time for their league opener against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday at the Spotify Camp Nou.
What is the meaning of fourth economic lever? What are Barcelona’s economic levers?
The term ‘economic levers’ refers to a financial action where a club/franchise sells some of their assets partially to raise money to reduce debt.
Led by president Laporta, Barcelona had earlier restructured their short-term debt to long-term by acquiring a loan of €600 million from Goldman Sachs. It gave the football club another 10 years to repay the loan with interest.
During an EGM meeting in June, Barcelona officials voted in favour of selling 49.9 per cent of their club’s Licensing and Merchandising (BLM) for €300 million to balance their books.
As part of their second lever, the Catalan outfit sold 25 per cent of the club’s La Liga TV rights for 25 years to a global investment firm named Sixth Street for nearly $600 million.
Additionally, Barcelona have also bagged a $236 million sponsorship deal with Swedish music streaming company Spotify to improve their financial condition.
However, as per La Liga rules, Barcelona can utilise only 15 per cent of the latest generated revenue towards increasing the salary cap.
Last season, Barcelona’s player wages accounted for over 100 per cent of the total income when Laporta took over.
In order to meet La Liga restrictions, Barcelona need to offload some of their fringe players or reduce players’ salary cap to register the new summer signings. Before the summer transfer window closes, Barcelona can activate additional economic levers to sign more players as well as register all their signings.
Meanwhile, Barcelona will kick off their La Liga 2022-23 campaign against Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou on Sunday, August 14.
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