How Rupert Murdoch Changed Sports Media Forever
FC Barcelona will continue its spending spree with the redevelopment of its historic stadium.
The La Liga giants have announced plans to upgrade Spotify Camp Nou within a budget of $966 million, as outlined by team president Joan Laporta.
In March 2022, Barcelona secured a long-term sponsorship deal with audio streaming platform Spotify reportedly worth $306 million, which made the latter the club’s main sponsor and rebranded Camp Nou.
- The venue has been Barcelona’s home field since 1957.
- It has a seating capacity of 99,354 — Europe’s largest.
- Renovations will begin in June 2023 and are expected to be completed by June 2026.
Barcelona is redeveloping Spotify Camp Nou after using “economic levers” to alleviate debt and register players during last year’s transfer market.
The club landed a deal with private equity firm Sixth Street to sell a 10% stake in its TV rights worth up to $278 million. Barcelona sold an additional 15% stake to Sixth Street for $326.5 million.
Last August, the club agreed to sell a 24.5% stake in Barca Studios — Barcelona’s media production arm — to audiovisual production company Orpheus Media for $102 million. It sold another 24.5% stake in Barca Studios to fan engagement app Socios.com for $102 million.
Very Valuable
Barcelona reported a profit of $111 million behind $1.15 billion in revenue for the year ending June 2022.
The club is the second-most-valuable soccer team at $5 billion, per Forbes.
