Barcelona have confirmed the completion of the sale of VIP seats at the new Camp Nou, claiming this will allow them to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor in La Liga.
As Olmo and Victor’s previous registrations neared their end on December 31, Barcelona struck a deal to sell part of the seats for a reported 120 million euros, which would have given them the financial freedom needed to acquire the two players before expiry to re-register within the deadline.
Barcelona claimed they provided evidence of the sale to La Liga before Olmo and Victor’s registrations expired. However, this argument was rejected by league officials, who blocked new registrations for the pair.
An appeal has since been lodged with the Spanish government, which granted Olmo and Victor temporary registrations while they investigated the case.
Publicly, Barcelona has now completed the seat sale and released a statement emphasizing compliance with league rules in order to raise the necessary funds for the registrations of Olmo and Victor.
“FC Barcelona announces the sale of VIP seats at the Spotify Camp Nou,” it said in a statement. “The club has been working on the operation over the last few months and it has ultimately proven crucial in returning to compliance with LaLiga’s Financial Fair Play rules.”
“The sales model for these VIP seats – Personal Seat License (PSL) – represents a changing approach to the way sales of hospitality products are managed and is more in line with trends already being adopted by other sports organizations worldwide, particularly in the United States. For FC Barcelona, the operation means the creation of a new intangible asset based on this new business model, in which investors can purchase a VIP seat and then either sell it or use it for themselves.
“This means that any risk to the club during the sales process for this type of seat is reduced as revenue is guaranteed for the entire sales period and investors i) pay upfront for the license to use the seat throughout the period. “ of the contact and ii) for the price of the VIP seat per season.
“The club has concluded deals for 475 seats with a maximum term of 30 years with two different investors from the Middle East, a region where this type of product is in high demand. At the request of investors, these deals contain confidentiality clauses aimed at maintaining the competitive advantage of investor groups in the hospitality and VIP products sector. This approach has also been adopted in other club financial transactions (e.g. the financing of Espai Barca). received positive reports from the Club’s Compliance Department and Economic Commission.
“The relevant documents for these agreements were sent to LaLiga before midnight on December 31, 2024.
“The benefits derived from granting permission to use this new product will allow the Club to make available to Espai Barca investors a significant portion of the debt incurred for Spotify Camp Nou before the end of the first scheduled payment period the 2025/26 season.”