FC Barcelona Funds Future NFT Projects by Selling $100M Stake

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The world-renowned Spanish soccer team FC Barcelona recently announced that it sold a 24.5 percent stake in its Barca Production branch to Socios — a Web3 and blockchain specialist company. The price? A cool $100 million.

The sale is the third injection of capital for the club in recent months as it looks to improve its finances and raise funds to sign players for the upcoming La Liga season. Other moves the club has made to inject capital include selling 25 percent of its domestic broadcast income for the next 25 years and approving the sale of 49.5 percent of its merchandising business.

The deal with Socios will not only infuse the club with extra cash, but it also puts the ball in the hands (or feet) of a company with Web3, metaverse, and non-fungible token (NFT) experience.

In the future, the two companies aim to work together to develop Barca Studios’ digital portfolio. They will also leverage Chillz Chain 2.0 — a blockchain designed for the sports industry.

Socios, which provides fan tokens that let users access digital services, exclusive content, VIP experience, and rewards from their favorite clubs, has partnerships with over 150 sports organizations — and has collaborated in the past with FC Barcelona.

Back in February 2020, the team launched a fan token with Socios that has sold more than $39 million of digital assets so far. FC Barcelona hopes to leverage its over 400 million global fans through blockchain technology and Web3 to build new and exciting digital connections.

Web3 Is Transforming the Sports Industry

Another partnership between a major sports club and a blockchain company adds more fuel to the fire when it comes to Web3 and sports. But for people paying attention to the two industries, the move should come as no surprise.

At Rarity Sniper, we reported accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) prediction earlier in the year that NFTs will become one of the biggest generators of revenue for global sports brands. According to PwC, Web3 could transform sports through digital collectibles, NFT ticketing, and metaverse experiences.

Since then, we’ve written up several headlines that fit nicely into these three categories. Here are a few:

Even in the bear market, there’s no shortage of action happening in Web3 and sports this year. The recent sale of a stake in Barca Studios by FC Barcelona should help the team not only raise funds to acquire new players for the upcoming season but also put it in a position to compete in the evolving Web3 economy for years to come.