Joan Laporta once again experienced a tremendously placid assembly of delegates. Again, telematics, with the senators, former presidents, the president of the statutory economic commission and the Ombudsman of the Soci present in the board room.
In the highest governing body of the club, both the liquidation of the previous year and the budget for this season, which foresees income of 1,195 million euros, were approved without problems, as well as the extension of financing for the construction of the Espai Barça, which includes the Spotify Camp Nou and its surroundings, in 300 million euros, with a fixed interest of around 6% and for 30 years, and the issuance of bonds guaranteed with additional audiovisual rights of the club for a value of 210 million over 10 years. The especially sweet sporting moment that the first team is experiencing, with a completely brilliant start to the season and two last campaigns full of titles, as well as the materialization of the long-awaited return to the Barça stadium, leads, of course, for everything to be a raft of oil.
Something that the president wanted to talk about in the speech with which the event started. «We are living a moment of collective joy but I also want to convey that, with the utmost optimism, it is time to renew responsibility and commitments to the entity. We live in a key moment in history. All decisions made today will affect the following decades. We protected the club model and worked to consolidate the economic situation. Financial sustainability and institutional stability are the two factors to achieve a strong and lasting project. In the last five years, the roadmap has been to responsibly manage resources to leave difficult moments behind and guarantee a stable future," said Laporta, who did not hesitate to throw a full blow at Real Madrid either.
«A club of the greatness of Barça always has important challenges. Loving Barça forces us to always go further, there is no room for complacency. This is what history and the firm commitment we have to the institution demand of us. I ask to continue with this growth in all areas for the coming years. "We are obliged to go one step further than rivals who are public limited companies or state clubs that, when they have difficulties, reclassify a piece of land and are so hot," insisted the Barça leader, who justified two economic measures that, in addition to the traditional liquidation of the previous year and the approval of the current budget, were going to be subjected to the scrutiny of the members: the expansion of financing for the construction of the Espai Barça and the issuance of bonds guaranteed with additional audiovisual rights.
«From April 2023 until now, a series of circumstances have occurred that have caused the works to be delayed and costs to increase. There have been more interventions in the third tier because we prioritize maintaining the structure, adapting them to current needs. As a result of the war conflicts, the price of materials has increased throughout Europe... For all these reasons, we ask for authorization to request financing of 300 million euros that will not impact sports policy. This money is to definitively finish the Spotify Camp Nou, which is essential. And, also to accelerate the generation of income that will be at least 1,450 million in 2030, with the stadium at full capacity," said Laporta, who clarified that the new Palau Blaugrana does not fall into these 300 million, which means that the initial cost of Espai Barça, budgeted at 1,500 million euros, rises to 1,800 million. The new Palau, in this case, should also be self-financing through the organization of events.
MANY NUMBERS
«We will also request authorization of bonds for around 200 million euros, which will be used to provide liquidity to the club in its ordinary operations and to strengthen the team. We can do it now because we are in a good moment. This indebtedness, contemplated in the statutes, does not compromise the associative model nor does it imply any benefit for the partners," added the president. Both proposals were endorsed by the delegates with the reinforced two-thirds margin required by the statutes. The first, with 562 votes in favor, 45 against and 12 blank. The second, with 486 favorable votes, 55 negative and 28 blank. Regarding the settlement of the 2025-26 financial year, income of 1,060 million euros was announced with a positive ordinary balance of 200,000 euros and a negative extraordinary balance of 14 million euros.
This loss was justified by the deterioration of the company created for the sale of television rights at the time, one of the club's famous levers, partially offset by the sale of other assets. And, in addition, an increase in debt was explained, which has grown to 607 million euros due to the delays in the stadium works and, also, the signing of Anthony Gordon, carried out before the end of the year. However, the economic vice president, Ferran Olivé, wanted to highlight as positive points the income record, the positive ordinary result, the value of the squad, which would amount to 1,260 million euros, the value of the club estimated by Forbes at 6,500 million euros and the achievement of the 1:1 rule in the League's financial Fair Play.
The delegates, in this case, also gave their approval to those numbers, with a total of 609 votes in favor, 32 against and 23 blank. At the same time, they also gave their particular support to the budget planned for the current year, in which it is expected that there will be record income of 1,195 million euros, with an expected profit of one million euros. The figures for the current campaign received a total of 583 favorable votes, 43 negative and 27 blank votes.
