Sixth Street buys 25% Barcelona TV rights

FC Barcelona did not announce a new television-rights sale on May 15, 2026. The club and Sixth Street completed the transaction in July 2022, when Barcelona sold 25% of its LaLiga television-rights income to the U.S. investment firm for 25 years, in two separate deals. Barcelona disclosed on July 1, 2022 that Sixth Street would invest €207.5 million for an initial 10% share, and on July 22, 2022 the club said a second deal for an additional 15% raised Sixth Street’s total to 25%. ### Did Sixth Street buy 25% of Barcelona’s TV rights today? July 22, 2022 is the date Barcelona and Sixth Street announced the second leg of the transaction, not May 15, 2026. Barcelona said then that Sixth Street had agreed to acquire an additional 15% of the club’s LaLiga broadcasting rights after previously buying 10%, taking the total to 25% for the next 25 years. (fcbarcelona.com) July 1, 2022 was the date of the first agreement. Barcelona and Sixth Street said the initial deal gave the investor 10% of the club’s LaLiga TV rights for 25 years in exchange for an initial €207.5 million investment. ### What exactly did Barcelona sell? (sixthstreet.com) Barcelona said the asset was a share of the club’s LaLiga broadcasting rights, sometimes described by the club in budget documents as rights tied to the audiovisual content generated by the men’s first team’s participation in LaLiga. The club’s 2022-23 budget papers described the operation as the sale of 25% of those rights to a company controlled by Sixth Street. (fcbarcelona.com) The 25-year term was central to both announcements. Sixth Street and Barcelona both said the investor would receive 25% of the club’s LaLiga TV rights over the next 25 years once the second transaction closed. ### How much money did Barcelona say it received? €207.5 million was the only figure Barcelona publicly attached to the first tranche. (sixthstreet.com) In the July 1, 2022 announcement, the club said that investment corresponded to 10% of its LaLiga TV rights for 25 years and generated a capital gain of €267 million for the season. (ithaka.com) July 22, 2022 disclosures on the second tranche did not include a price in the club and Sixth Street statements surfaced here. Other contemporaneous reports estimated the combined transaction at more than €500 million, but Barcelona’s own announcement focused on the additional 15% and the resulting 25% total stake rather than disclosing a second purchase price. (fcbarcelona.com) ### Why was Barcelona doing this in 2022? June 2022 was when Barcelona members approved the so-called economic levers that allowed the club to sell portions of future media and licensing income. Barcelona and Sixth Street both said the first transaction followed “overwhelming support” from members at an Extraordinary General Assembly. (sixthstreet.com) Joan Laporta, Barcelona’s president, said in the July 22, 2022 announcement that the club and Sixth Street had worked with “a shared understanding” of what Barcelona was trying to achieve and that the deal would improve the club’s capital strength and competitiveness. That was Barcelona’s stated rationale at the time. (fcbarcelona.com) ### How does this fit into the broader sports-investment market? Arctos Partners has taken minority positions in major sports properties, including Paris Saint-Germain, whose owner QSI said in December 2023 that Arctos’ investment would help fund growth initiatives including stadium and real-estate projects. Arctos’ website now says it is a business of KKR, and KKR said in a press release that it agreed to acquire Arctos in a transaction valued at $1.4 billion in initial consideration. (sixthstreet.com) Those transactions are separate from Barcelona’s 2022 deal with Sixth Street. The Barcelona documents available publicly still point back to the July 1 and July 22, 2022 announcements as the core record of the TV-rights sale, and those statements remain the clearest place to verify the 10% first tranche, the added 15%, and the 25-year term. (fcbarcelona.com) (thestadiumbusiness.com)