LaLiga: FC Barcelona sell 25% stake in audiovisual studio to raise money for registering new players
India Today
LaLiga giants FC Barcelona have sold 25 per cent stake in its audiovisual studio for 100 million Euros. This is being considered as an important step to register their new signings ahead of the LaLiga season.
LaLiga giants Barcelona sold a 25% stake in its audiovisual studio to digital fan token firm Socios.com for 100 million euros ($102 million), president Joan Laporta revealed on Monday, 1 August, as the Spanish team took important steps to bring in revenue to register new players.
Barcelona have made several big money signings this summer bringing in players like Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde. There have been strong reports across the Spanish and English media that they want to sell of Frenkie de Jong to bring in a big amount of cash. However, that has not come to pass yet.
Reuters reported that ‘Socios.com’ will come on board as a technology partner accelerating Barca's blockchain, non-fungible token (NFT) and Web3 strategies.
"Barca Studios includes (in its portfolio) metaverse, NFTs and Barca tokens. It's the sale of a stake ... it's in principle forever, we could recover it if something happens," Laporta said at a news conference to unveil new signing Jules Kounde, who was bought from Sevilla.
“Socios.com will support Barca in its efforts to build new digital connections with its global fan base of 400 million,” a Reuters report stated.
The club has taken multiple steps to reduce the massive debt incurred during the pandemic. Barcelona have currently signed a shirt and stadium sponsorship deal with Spotify in an agreement worth 280 million euros and approved financial plans in December to renovate Camp Nou.