A €400 million studio without a TV channel? What the closure of Barca TV tells us about the future of club media
IMAGO | Xavi, manager of FC Barcelona, giving an interview to Barca TV.
Less than a year after Barcelona’s media operation sold a 49 per cent stake in a deal that valued it at €400 million, it has closed down one of its core offerings – Barca TV.
With clubs stepping back from linear TV offerings, are these withdrawals about short term financial priorities, a broader retrenchment, or is something else going on?
Why it matters: Clubs all over Europe have been moving away from direct TV offerings, but Barca’s withdrawal seems like a tipping point.
The perspective: Clubs need to consider carefully the platforms in which they distribute their content. “Are Netflix or Amazon the meal ticket or are they really there to eat the clubs lunch?”
12 May 2023 - 2:54 PM
It represents only a footnote in a chaotic era for the club, but the impending closure of FC Barcelona's Spanish television channel, Barca TV, as part of a cost-cutting strategy seems at once at odds with the huge valuation the club gave its media operations last year, while representing something deeper about how clubs are interacting with their fanbases.
Last summer, the club asked for – and received - €200 million for selling two 24.5 per cen
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