FC Barcelona exploring NFTs and metaverse to monetize worldwide fans
Club president Joan Laporta spoke about technologies offering new opportunities at MWC22
FC Barcelona are exploring new revenue stream opportunities with the development of new technologies such as NFTs and the metaverse, as explained by club president Joan Laporta at a keynote speech at the 2022 Mobile World Congress.
Laporta spoke about some of the contemporary challenges that Barça faces, the fact that its competitors are no longer just other football clubs, but other content platforms such as Netflix and Disney, as football clubs are essentially working in the entertainment industry.
To face up to these 21st-century hurdles, the club are working on developing their own metaverse and on create their own cryptocurrency that will be owned by the club.
Laporta was coy about revealing details about the future of these avenues, saying he was tied to “confidentiality,” but spoke at length about the prospects that these types of new technologies offered.
The club president also believes they have the “talent in the club to launch” these kinds of ventures.
“Big data” will be key to whether or not these ideas are successful, but Laporta cited that the club had “300 million fans around the world” and acknowledged that it was an important matter of finances to tap into this international market.
Barça’s debts, amounting to more than €1 billion, have been well documented over the past couple of years, and the club are looking for ways to monetize the fans who admire the Camp Nou heroes from all around the world.
Laporta also acknowledged that it was important to find a balance between maintaining the essence of a local Catalan club as well as making money from international fans.
The club president says it’s important to keep fans happy, “but also [they] have to take opportunities to maximise revenue" to "solve financial difficulties,” as FC Barcelona has no single owner who can invest money, but the club is instead owned by many thousands of members.
“This forces us to be imaginative, forces us to be innovative, forces us to be brave," Laporta said.