FC Barcelona: A model of successful enterprise and a devout club – Part 2

However, Faus is the man responsible for keeping Barca healthy in the debit column of the balance sheets, but the Socios, the club’s member who elect the top management of the outfit, call Barça a més que un club—more than a club and a sociedad civil (like a nonprofit) that has grown to become the most international representation of Catalan culture and society.

For the socios, profits are not the biggest concern. The last two years, the club’s top management, Faus included, has taken some steps to increase profitability after the 2008 economical meltdown. The devout did not approve many of them as they brought materialism to Camp Nou, a place like temple of the Barca fans.

“Some socios are really conservative,” says Mario Oliveto, a sports marketing expert and former executive at Nike and Adidas. “They don’t understand numbers.”

Faus is correct in his stance to bring in money to the club. Like the rest of Euro countries, Spain went on shopping spree in the last one decade, borrowing money from banks and Barcelona was not exception to that, taking out loans backed by appreciating real estate assets and spending big for international talent.

After the financial bubble burst in 2008 and the debris hit Europe in the following year, Spain, with other Euro countries, became victim to the crisis. Again, Barca was no exception.

Socios changed the top management in 2010 and along with others, Faus came onboard. One of major changes that the current management brought after taking over the reins of the oufit was to cut expenses. So they did, shaving off $109 Million in drastic cost-cutting and capping the players’ salaries.

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Apr 19 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.