Barcelona calls vote on whether to sell 25% of TV rights

MADRID: Barcelona's board of directors has called an extraordinary assembly of its members on June 16 to vote on whether to approve selling 25 per cent of the club's La Liga broadcasting rights to one or more investors, the club said on Tuesday (May 31).

In December, the club opted out of a deal with the equity fund CVC Capital Partners, the first of its kind in Europe, that was agreed by 38 of La Liga's 42 member clubs.

CVC bought an 8.2 per cent stake in a new company that will get revenues from La Liga broadcasting and sponsorship rights of those clubs for 50 years in exchange for €1.994 billion (US$2.24 billion) in investment.

Barcelona joined Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao in taking legal action against La Liga over that financial agreement.

Barcelona did not immediately respond to Reuters as to whether it was seeking to offer its rights to CVC.

Barcelona members will vote on whether to authorise "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," the club said in a statement.

Members will also vote on whether or not to authorise the acquisition by one or more investors of a minority stake in Barca Licensing & Merchandising (BLM), the club’s retail business unit.

Barcelona did not disclose how much money it expects to receive from such deals.