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Friends,

FC Barcelona is the world’s 2nd most valuable football club, worth an estimated $5 billion. The La Liga club has nearly 300 million fans worldwide. They generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue. They recently signed a $300 million sponsorship deal with Spotify and routinely sell out their 100,000-seat stadium, Spotify Camp Nou.

World’s Most Valuable Soccer Teams

1. Real Madrid: $5.1 billion

2. Barcelona: $5.0 billion

3. Manchester United: $4.6 billion

4. Liverpool: $4.45 billion

5. Bayern Munich: $4.275 billion

But not everything has been smooth sailing for Barcelona over the last few years.

Joan Laporta was re-elected as club President in 2021, and he inherited nearly $1.5 billion of debt. The police raided club offices as part of an investigation into the possible misappropriation of club funds, and many people were seriously concerned about the club’s future, both on and off the pitch.

So President Laporta got to work. He reduced the club’s payroll by over $225 million, allowing Lionel Messi to leave for Paris Saint-Germain and convincing players like Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba to renegotiate their salaries.

President Laporta then pulled a series of “economic levers,” selling off future revenue streams to raise cash and pay down debt. For example, the club agreed to sell a percentage of its future broadcasting revenue to global investment firm Sixth Street Partners, and they also sold 50% of their media arm, Barca Studios, to two different companies: Socios.com and Orpheus Media.

These economic levers reduced the club’s overall debt by hundreds of millions. Moreover, it allowed FC Barcelona to start signing players again, and the club now sits in 1st place in the La Liga standings — eight points clear of Real Madrid.

So I sat down with FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta for this week’s podcast. We discussed the club’s current financial position, the pros and cons of a Super League, the likelihood of Lionel Messi’s return, and much more.

I really enjoyed this conversation with President Laporta and hope you do too. The podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. Enjoy!

Have a great day. We’ll talk on Friday.

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Behind The Scenes With F1: Drive To Survive Director Martin Webb

F1: Drive to Survive has taken the sports world by storm. The Netflix show has helped Formula 1 reach millions of new fans. The sport has expanded from just one race in the USA to three, and F1 is now the fastest-growing sports league on social media.

Many other leagues are now trying to emulate F1’s content strategy, and Director Martin Webb is at the center of this shift. The London-based filmmaker has worked on F1: Drive to Survive and the new tennis show Break Point, and he recently did an exclusive interview with The Profile.

Webb talks about his creative process, interview techniques, the importance of compelling storytelling, and much more. It’s an inside look into what makes these documentaries so great, and I really enjoyed it.

Read The Full Q&A

Huddle Up is a 3x weekly newsletter that breaks down the business and money behind sports. If you are not already a subscriber, sign up and join 96,000+ others who receive it directly in their inbox each week.