Eduard Romeu, Barcelona’s economic vice-president, was the main protagonist of the Barcelona news yesterday. He appeared to talk about numbers, but he also had his say on the sports plot. He was asked, among other things, if Leo Messi’s return to the Camp Nou was possible for next season, taking into account the economy of the entity, and this is what he answered: “We do miracles”. He also added that the Argentine is “an asset of Barça and the doors are open”. Of course, he wanted to point out that this is a matter for the sports management and that there was little else he could say. Sunday is the Assembly of Committed Members and yesterday it was his turn to present the state of the club’s coffers, which is what he mainly did.
In this sense, the leader stated that one of the main economic objectives for the 2022-2023 academic year is to “achieve the highest income in history in sponsorships”, reaching 200 million euros, a figure never achieved until now. “Our traveling companions (the sponsors) were not entirely happy (referring to the time of Josep Maria Bartomeu’s board) and we need to work in this regard. Especially in a post-pandemic context in which not all companies can make large investments in sponsorships”, considered Romeu, who revealed that the budget foresees 332 million euros of income in the commercial area overall.
In addition, the economic vice president admitted that “one of the sponsorships that is being worked on, by the hand of vice president Juli Guiu and the commercial department, is the asset of the left sleeve of the first men’s team”, which is free from in the summer of 2021, when the Turkish company Beko did not renew the contract.
“The time when companies came to Camp Nou to ask to sponsor Barça is over. Now you have to pack your bags and travel to get deals done, which is what we are doing,” he continued to explain. The other section in which the club expects to increase income with respect to the 2021-2022 academic year is that of the stadium. “The forecast is to get 201 million, 70 more than the previous season”.
The contribution of the “levers”
According to the details of the accounts for the 2021-22 financial year and the budget for the 2022-23 season that were presented yesterday, Barça supports the 98 million profits it obtained in the 2021-22 year and the 274 million it expects for the current campaign, thanks to a total of 867 million euros in extraordinary income as a result of the so-called levers activated by the club led by Joan Laporta.
