Barcelona calls EGM to vote on broadcast rights sale

Catalan football club FC Barcelona has called an extraordinary general meeting to vote on whether to sell off 25% of its broadcasting rights.

The club’s members will vote to approve “the assignment to one or more investors of up to 25 per cent of the revenues for the use of the TV rights (…) and/or obtaining financing on the basis of the mentioned TV rights.” 

In addition, they will vote on whether to authorise the acquisition by one or more investors of a minority stake in the club’s retail business unit Barca Licensing & Merchandising (BLM).

The board has set June 16 for its EGM, with members set to decide on the path Barcelona takes in the fallout from LaLiga’s deal with CVC Capital Partners.

The league agreed a deal with the private equity fund in December 2021 which saw it buy 8.2% of a new company that will get revenues from LaLiga broadcasting and sponsorship rights for 50 years. The fund invested €1.994 billion in the venture.

The deal however was not backed universally among LaLiga’s 42 member clubs, with four clubs – Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and one unnamed club – opposing it. The three named clubs, along with the Spanish FA (RFEF) launched a lawsuit against the deal, calling on “the annulment of the agreement” and arguing that it would cause “incalculable damage” to Spanish football.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta described the deal as “mortgaging the club’s rights over the next half-century”.