FC Barcelona announces US$100 million deal for 24.5% of Barca Studios

Spanish football giants FC Barcelona have sold 24.5% of its production house in a US$100 million deal.

Barca Studios is the content arm of the football club that launched in January 2019. It manages Barcelona’s audiovisual productions, while it is also currently producing a scripted teen drama set at its La Masia academy. It had generated €30 million in revenue by December of 2020. 

Barcelona said that the sale will provide it with a much-needed cash injection, while also adding the Web 3.0 expertise of Socios. The club said that the sale will enable it to develop Barca Studios’ digital portfolio and leverage the Chillz Chain 2.0 sports-oriented blockchain.

Socios has been partnered with Barcelona since February 2020 when it launched the club’s fan token which has sold more than US$39 million worth since. At time of writing, one Barcelona fan token is worth US$5.98, a huge decrease from a peak of US$49.95 in March 2021 – a trend which has become concerningly common amongst football club-backed crypto endeavours. 

Commenting on the sale, Alexandre Dreyfus, Socios CEO, said: “Barca Studios can now leverage our technology, expertise, and global scale to help roll out the club’s Web 3.0 content strategy and deliver new long term revenue streams that will benefit the club for seasons to come. We are passionate about the role that technology can play in building communities that bring fans closer to their teams and each other. Blockchain technology can provide fans with a role and membership in their communities that cannot be removed, revoked, spent or expire.

“As their trusted technology partner we’ll do everything we can to support them in their efforts to build new and rewarding digital connections with their 400 million followers worldwide.”