The main starting point of the current turmoil at Barça under Joan Laporta is called Barça Vision (formerly Barça Studios). The club is now restructuring its digital, new technologies, and audiovisual activities with the aim of creating a new entity that will encompass the current Barça Vision. This entity has been the subject of a long process of sales and unpaid debts that have put Laporta's board on edge. In fact, it is at the root of the serious economic imbalance that has ultimately led to the initiation of a new operation (a “lever” in Laporta's jargon), the early sale of VIP boxes, which has ended in the failure to register Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor in LaLiga.
At the moment, the deadline set by the management team to find new partners before December 31st of the recently concluded year has already been missed. According to sources consulted, the changes in Barça Studios' content will involve transferring all digital assets and new business ventures, resulting in the emergence of a new entity that will require a different valuation from the current one. This poses an additional complication for the auditors, with whom the organization is in dispute, as they believe that their 54% stake in Barça Vision, valued at 208 million, is significantly overstated.
The new operation implies a tacit recognition that, with its current characteristics, Barça Studios will not be able to attract new shareholders. An investor interested in the club's audiovisual and digital activities has already expressed to this newspaper that the current company is an empty shell with no activity, and that in order to participate, the club should provide it with business, new contracts, and fully operational activities. Urgencies regarding the sale of VIP boxes, as well as tensions surrounding the registration of Olmo and Víctor, have caused a significant halt in the efforts to reorganize these businesses.
The club has only collected 55 million out of the projected 200 million and had to declare losses at the request of the auditor
The initial Barça Studios was created by the former president of Barça, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and had little activity during his term. In 2022, with a quick and murky move, apparently selling 49%, Laporta generated accounting profits of 408 million, which at that time raised the club's financial fair play and allowed the registration of Raphinha, Koundé, Lewandowski, Christensen, and Kessié.
They were also used to mask accounts and present profits without which they would have had to declare losses. In the 2022/2023 fiscal year, Laporta declared profits of 304 million, but thanks to sales (levers) of a little over 800 million, half from the sale of Barça Vision and the other half from the sale of 15% of television rights. The previous year he had done the same with another 10%, which also turned losses of 141 million into profits of 125 million.
But the sale operation of Barça Vision had much more fantasy than reality. Some of the initial investors, such as Jaume Roures, who had agreed to take on the role of purchasing a 24.5% stake, quickly disappeared. The other, socios.com, did the same, although in this case partially, in stages and paying in installments.
The mystery of VIP boxes
The only thing known about the sale of about 350 VIP seats at the new Camp Nou is that Barça presented to LaLiga the purchase contracts, the audit of the valuation, and proof of the payment of a portion of the money. In total, around 200 million to be distributed between the club and the creditors for the construction work. The sale is structured around the creation of a company (similar to the other levers) in which the club will hold the majority. The rest remains unknown. What has been the cost (discount) of the sale? Will it have its headquarters in a tax haven? Will the new partners be made public? Will there be new commissions?
New participants had to be sought for the adventure, of course paying commissions in countries like Croatia, to replace the previous ones, and here came the downfall. The new investors did not provide the announced money and delinquencies began.
In the end, the club has only received 55 million out of the planned 200, and has had to charge the remaining 145 against profits, as required by the auditor, resulting in declaring losses for the financial year ending last June. The latest investor announced is the catering firm Aramark, whom the club introduced as a new strategic partner in the field of new technologies, an area where the American company does not operate. In fact, their official website only mentions food services, catering, and monitors as their business areas.
However, those first 145 million negative provisions in last year's income statement might be just the beginning of the problem. Of the aforementioned 208 million that the club holds in its assets for its stake in Barça Vision, the auditor highlighted in its report on last year's accounts that “this valuation should not be maintained, and therefore the value of the investment recorded at year-end should be impaired.” In other words, the report – issued with “exceptions” because “there is a material misstatement in the annual accounts” – states that the Barça Vision package is worth much less than the club claims. It should be noted that last year the company had a turnover of 74,000 euros and did not even have a business plan to develop its activities, as the auditor also pointed out.
