THE FUSE

Barcelona are preparing to open a new chapter in their commercial and sporting activities, through a return to the United States of America on a pre-season tour for the new 2027 season, coinciding with a huge financial move aimed at putting the finishing touches to the project to develop the Spotify Camp Nou stadium, one of the largest investment projects in the club's history. Between the search for new markets to boost the brand and securing the funding needed to complete the stadium, the Catalan club are moving on two fronts, neither of which is less important than the other, according to what the Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo has revealed.

Barcelona are putting the United States back on the map of their summer tours. After two years away, the club's marketing department are working to arrange a preparatory tour for the new 2027 season, with a particular focus on the West Coast in line with the preferences of the first team's technical staff. The plan still hinges on the success of ongoing negotiations with the organisers and the finalising of its programme.

The United States had long been a key stop in Barcelona's summer programmes. The team visited in 2022, basing its camp on the East Coast in Fort Lauderdale, then returned in 2023 to the West Coast for an extended stay in Los Angeles. In the summer of 2024, the squad headed back to the East Coast and prepared in Orlando and Annapolis.

Everything changed over the past two years. Barcelona skipped the United States in the summer of 2025 because of a congested calendar built around the Club World Cup, then did so again in 2026, when the country hosted the World Cup finals. Instead, the club travelled to Asia in 2025, visiting Japan and South Korea, and chose England for its traditional camp ahead of last season.

The summer of 2027 looks the perfect window to restore their presence in the American market, with neither the World Cup nor the European Championship taking place. That gives the club far greater scope to organise a tour with commercial and marketing returns. The United States carries strategic importance for the Catalan management, given the club's huge popularity there and its desire to expand its fan base and bolster its finances through commercial activities and friendly matches.

On the sporting front, next summer hands Hansi Flick a precious opportunity to work with most of his squad from the very start of pre-season, free from the absences that come with major international tournaments. The German coach attaches great importance to the training base, having voiced strong admiration for the facilities at the Annapolis military training centre during the 2024 visit. The club are now finalising the details of the pre-season programme before settling on a destination and match dates.

300 million euros to complete the Camp Nou project

Alongside the sporting and commercial moves, Barcelona have taken an important financial step towards completing the development works at the Spotify Camp Nou, pushing through a bond issue worth 300 million euros after securing the necessary authorisations from the Spanish National Securities Market Commission. The move provides the extra financing needed to finish the project, the cornerstone of the club's economic plan for the coming years.

Goldman Sachs took on the role of exclusive agent for the bond distribution, which the club's delegate members approved during the ordinary general assembly on 19 September, with 90.79% of the votes. It forms part of the financing structure of the Espai Barça project, which had previously received initial approval worth 1.5 billion euros before further refinancing spread the financial obligations more evenly.

The new financing should drive the stadium's development forward, with Barcelona aiming to make it Europe's largest football ground by capacity at 104,600 spectators. The project also includes a major expansion of hospitality facilities and premium spaces, with around 9,500 seats set aside for VIPs, plus a double ring of private boxes between the second and third tiers to boost revenues from the facility.

For the financing structure, Barcelona rely on a securitisation fund that buys the collection rights to some future revenues linked to the stadium's operation. The club carried out multiple refinancing operations without raising the original amount, aiming to spread the instalments more regularly. The average cost of financing sits at around 6.15%, while the profit margin in the most recent operations reached 242 basis points, according to the financial details reported by the Spanish newspaper.

The timeline points to Barcelona finishing the stadium works entirely during the first half of 2028, with the roof due to be installed in the summer and autumn of 2027. Their ambitions go further than reclaiming the ground in its new form. UEFA have chosen the Camp Nou to host the men's Champions League final in 2029, the club is also chasing the Women's Champions League final in 2031, and it is bidding to host matches as part of the 2030 World Cup.

Keen to reassure members about the future of the project, Ferran Olivé, Barcelona's vice-president for economic affairs, confirmed during the general assembly on 19 October that around 80% of the works are now complete, leaving the management confident there will be no fresh budget overruns or need for extra borrowing. He stressed that the financing will not burden the club's members, nor mortgage the institution or hit its usual operating resources, explaining that the main guarantee lies in the additional revenues the stadium will generate once finished. He also pointed out that the extra 300 million euros had been anticipated from the start, given the modifications made during the building stages.