FC Barcelona lose £76m after ivestors default on payments

Barcelona suffered a £76m loss last year after investors defaulted on payments due for shares in the club’s media spin-off Barca Vision.

The Spanish club was forced to write off £117m in the accounts for 2023-24 as a result of the dispute with investors including German fund Libero.

Barcelona also lost out on an estimated £83m in matchday revenue due to playing at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic while their home, Camp Nou, is rebuilt.

Those factors plunged the club into the red despite a record £175m in sponsorship revenue and £90m from their dedicated merchandising subsidiary, BLM.

The Catalan team also made a profit of £66m on the sale of players including Ousmane Dembele and Franck Kessie, and reduced their wage bill by £140m to £415m a year.

It follows a period of acute financial stress for the four-time European champions, whose sale of stakes in Barca Vision was among a series of emergency measures it used to stay solvent.

Libero and Dutch firm Nipa Capital agreed to buy a 29.5 per cent stake in Bridgeburg Invest, the holding company of Barca Vision – then called Barca Studios – in August 2023 for £100m.  

Barcelona began legal action against Libero earlier this year as a result of its non-payment. Libero subsequently sold some of its shareholding to US catering company Aramark.