Renewal of FCB-UNICEF Partnership Does Justice to "Mès Que un Club"

By: Matthew Magill

Expanding upon the theme of the last post by my fellow team member Jordan Rodriguez, I would argue that with a recently renewed partnership with UNICEF, FC Barcelona has shown that it can live up to its motto, Mès Que un Club. The expansion of the partnership suggests that FC Barcelona may resemble a club more than a business.

While businesses often give portions of their profits to charity, sometimes dubiously in order to gain brand recognition and popularity with their target market, FC Barcelona's renewed partnership with UNICEF resembles something more humbling. The new agreement does more than simply expand upon a 10-year partnership with UNICEF for another 4 years. The agreement increases the 1.5 million euro already given to UNICEF annually to 2 million euro. With a 10-year historic partnership, fans around the world already recognize Barcelona when they encounter UNICEF and vise versa. If one were to argue that Barcelona is remaining committed to this relationship simply to increase their positive brand image, then why would FC Barcelona increase the amount given when doing so would seemingly bring no further recognition to their brand?

Increasing the amount given to UNICEF annually would have no benefit on FC Barcelona's brand image because fans already know the partnership exists. Instead, increasing the amount given to UNICEF stems from a commitment to the vulnerable. FC Barcelona's president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, gave his wishes for the commitment, stating, "With this new agreement, FC Barcelona seeks to take a step forward in this partnership. Now, the ties between Barca and UNICEF are closer than ever. We are united in the fight for children's rights and the promotion of education through sport. Barca is the club for the children of the world and UNICEF is the best partner for this journey."

Do you agree with Mr. Bartomeu that Barcelona is the "club for the children of the world," reflected by the recent agreement with UNICEF? Or would you argue that FC Barcelona pays UNICEF simply to keep their brand image high in the face of recent player scandals?

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_90305.html

Maybe It's Not Just a Money-Making Machine

https://hbr.org/2015/06/what-makes-fc-barcelona-such-a-successful-business

It seems that it has become easy to just look at the largest clubs in the world and automatically generalize them as money-hungry, greedy, capitalists machines. I'll be the first to admit: I believe that this is true, more often than not. FC Barca is one of the wealthiest sports clubs in the world with a huge global following and immense resources. Because of this, people often assume that their success--their essence--is not of genuine nature.

It is true, Barcelona has the deep pockets to buy the best players on the face of the planet. But one would be foolish to think that money alone is the key to Barcelona's success. Their motto of "Mas que un Club" is often written off as an attempt to mask their true identity as a corporation, but a lot of what Barcelona has achieved can be attributed to deeply rooted, often intangible qualities.

Their youth program, La Masia, is constantly praised for its ability to craft youthful talent into refined, world-class skill. The programs mentality of supporting your teammates, smarts over strength, and passing before shooting, are intangible qualities instilled into every player that money simply cannot buy.

Barcelona is not the only football club with money. Real Madrid and Premier League teams often make runs at the Barcelona superstars. Most recently, there have been talks of Madrid trying to acquire the offensive magician, Neymar. In news reports, Neymar's teammate, defensive powerhouse Gerrard Pique, told reporters he'd "bet an arm" that Neymar would not join Real. It is through team cohesiveness and group thinking that allows Barcelona to retain so many players and continue its success.

In short, one cannot blame a club for making money off of the success of its on-field performance. There are many clubs with money who do not have the identity or group mentality that has sprung FC Barca to the front of world football. Barcelona does make money, yes, but the success of the business side could only be achieved by the "Mas que un Club" identity.

~Jordan Rodriguez

Top Level Players: Club employees or business assets?

With the onset of the media and globally supported football clubs emerging in the past 20 years, the role of the player has morphed from a regular employee earning a salary into an important financial asset for the club’s revenue stream. An asset is described as a value creating resource, and thus players could be considered assets because of the revenue they earn for the club in multiple ways.

A football club makes money in three ways: ticket sales, broadcasting revenue, and commercial/merchandise revenue. The value of a player is important for broadcasting revenue because a top-level player generates more hype and therefore more money from broadcasting companies who are willing to pay more. On top of that, since a third of a club’s income is based on merchandise/commercial revenue, the value of a player to his respective club stretches farther than his skill level and ability to take his team far.

In cases such as Barcelona, where a member owned club inhibits private investors from making financial contributions to the club in exchange for ownership rights, the merchandise sales from players’ jerseys and gear heighten the value of a player as an asset to the club.

Nowadays, the majority value of a football club comes from the value of the players as assets. Camp Nou would normally be considered the biggest asset for Barcelona, but in reality the players generate more revenue for the club than the stadium itself. The salaries of the players can be compared to the operating expenses of any other business.

If the goal of any business is to create value by any means then isn’t FC Barcelona’s club operations managed in the same way as any other business trying to create value through exploiting valuable assets?

Kevin Lintner

http://www.sportskeeda.com/football/are-top-level-football-players-employees-or-economic-assets-for-their-clubs

The New Camp Nou

In the debate whether FC Barcelona is a club or a business, analyzing the cash flows and financing the club receives is imperative. Moreover, it is important to look at how the club officials decide to use or reinvest these funds.

In January of 2014, Barcelona’s board of directors released plans for a remodeling of the current stadium, Camp Nou. This plan will require about 500 Million pounds, converting to about $720 million USD. As the officials of Barcelona like to broadcast their “mes que un club” slogan and their “home-made” mentality, they decided to choose to remodel over building a brand new stadium. In fact, the members were the ones who ended up voting on and accepting the plan to remodel the stadium in April 2014. Giving the members the voting power does convince one to perceive Barcelona as a club rather than a business. They are also constructing an indoor basketball arena, and many other installations to make the stadium more of a club place.

Although the board of directors are doing all they can to make the new stadium seem like a club effort, there are many aspects of the plan that seem like usual business transactions. For example, they plan to take out a bank loan of 165 Million Pounds ($270 Million USD), which is far more debt that any club would be willing to take. Moreover, they plan to finance 83 Million Pounds ($134 Million USD) by selling naming rights. This is also an amount that only a commercial association would be able to receive for naming rights. Lastly, the new project includes many restaurants and ‘super boxes’ with VIP services. These two amenities are going to be added just to increase revenues, and both have very little effect on the quality of experience the club members receive.

When looking at FC Barcelona from a financial standpoint, all signs point to Barca being considered a business rather than a club.

INDEPENDENCIA! | FC Barcelona and the Catalan Society

INDEPENDENCIA! | FC Barcelona and the Catalan Society

By Quinn Shepherd

FC Barcelona, one of today’s most supported sports conglomerates, was originally founded in 1899 under a group of young foreigners living within Barcelona. Led by Joan Gamper, the club grew in popularity as sport swept across Europe, providing a burdened society with a new model for modern leisure. These origins instilled within the club a deep-rooted allegiance to a patriotic Catalan society, thus giving birth to the historic slogan “Mes Que un Club” coined by President Narcis de Carreras in 1968.

The motto “more than a club” expresses a commitment from FC Barcelona to the Catalan society whom for decades lived beneath a regime of dictatorship. Under these circumstances, FC Barca worked to defend the Catalan society from the persecution of its own language and culture. As time and repression continued, the club intensified this message in an effort to infuse a sporting passion within the country’s social and political affairs. In doing this FC Barcelona quickly became a symbol for national pride and anti-centralism. When democracy finally returned to Spain after the death of General Franco, the club maintained its social commitment as new opportunities for support arose.

Today FC Barcelona and the Catalan society still fight for independence in hopes of one day separating themselves from Spanish control. This feud is further fueled through the annual match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid titled “El Clasico”. Strong Catalan proponents have historically used this match as an opportunity to wave Catalan flags and chant “independencia!” in hopes of conveying their support for separatism. Ironically, however, this kind of a social-based decision would have interesting economic implications on a club of this size and popularity. This prompts the question: what is FC Barcelona’s main focus as a club- political or economic?

-Quinn Shepherd

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/board-members/detail/card/more-than-a-club

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/history

Potential Pepsi Offer Keeps Money and Talent in Barcelona

Potential Pepsi Offer Keeps Money and Talent in Barcelona

By: Matthew Magill

FC Barcelona has had no lack of success in the past decade, with the Guardiola era being followed with a stellar 2014-2015 season that resulted in the crowning of the historic treble, winning La Liga, Copa del Rey, and UEFA Champions League titles. Lionel Messi, considered by many of his peers and fans alike as the greatest player of his generation, claimed his fifth Balloon d'Or award to be named FIFA's best player of 2015. The looming question is whether FC Barcelona's success can continue when privately owned clubs that resemble corporate businesses such as the English power houses of the Premier League are able to offer more lucrative deals for international stars like Lionel Messi.

Being one of the last football clubs owned by its members, Barcelona lacks the financial security that comes with public or private ownership. To continue the success of the FC Barcelona brand and to keep the club in the hands of its members, continued success on the pitch is necessary. For a team rivaled against financial giants such as Manchester United, this means keeping Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suárez on the team. A club owned by its members may have trouble providing the capital to do so. A reported sponsorship deal with Pepsi will provide more than enough funding to keep the talent in Barcelona.

The monumental €60 million deal proposed to place Pepsi on the center of the Barcelona uniform instead of Qatar, overshadows even the historically large Chevrolet deal with Manchester United. On the eve of another potential UEFA Champions League title, one of the most tremendous deals in shirt sponsorship history could provide the funds to keep Barcelona not only competitive, but a leader on the player transfer market. The deal would allow Barcelona to stay competitive with English Premier League teams who will be taking in sizable funds from the recent Sky Sports TV deal, allowing them to retain ownership of Lionel Messi and their most talented players.

However, one must raise the question; with this astonishing inflow of funds surpassing what Manchester United is receiving, is FC Barcelona's business model any different than the corporate models that depend on foreign sponsorship? Does this deal threaten or support ownership by members? 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2615235-barcelona-reportedly-eye-pepsi-shirt-sponsor-as-alternative-to-qatar-airways

Even the Clubs are Businesses

It's one thing to say that a football club is owned by its fans, it is another to observe it. FC Barcelona, the knight in shining armor for all that is glorious surrounding football fan-ownership, is commonly looked to for an example of a club where the fans really do own the club. Members get to vote, and can even run to be owner.

But can a born-and-bred Catalan who has been watching the club play since before he could walk ever seriously run the club? This article exposes the most recent election for what it really is: a formality to appease those hopeful fans while making sure the club is held by the privileged few.

Yes, members get to "vote" for the owner of the club, but with barriers to entry such as a 77 million euro deposit, it is clear that there is a significant void between candidates, and those seriously considered as fit to run the club.

http://www.espnfc.com/club/barcelona/83/blog/post/2516364/barcelona-elections-show-fan-ownership-not-what-it-seems

-Jordan Rodriguez