Barcelona agree to sell 10% of LaLiga TV rights to Sixth Street for €205m, report claims

• The deal also includes streaming rights, according to Axios
• Barca had also agreed to find a buyer for a minority stake in the BLM division
• The Spanish football team expects to pocket around 600 million euros from the two deals

Spanish soccer giants Barcelona have agreed in principle to sell a 10% stake in their broadcast rights to US investment firm Sixth Street for 205 million euros ($217 million), according to Axios.

The report comes after the club gave the go-ahead earlier this month to sell up to 25% of their LaLiga broadcast rights revenue, as well as a 49.95% share in their Barca Licensing division. & Merchandising (BLM).

The move was made in order to help shore up the club’s finances, with Barca expecting to earn around 600 million euros ($635m) from the sales.

According to Axios, the agreement with Sixth Street also applies to streaming. It remains unclear whether Barca are in talks to sell the remaining 15% of their TV rights which the San Francisco-based company is not acquiring.

Sixth Street already has ties to Barca’s fierce rivals Real Madrid after the Spanish champions announced a 20-year, €360m ($381m) deal with the company and its existing partner Legends for the organization of entertainment events at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. Sixth Street acquired a majority stake in Legends in January 2021, valuing the sports experiences and services company at $1.35 billion.

Last June, Sixth Street also invested in the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA), apparently buying a 20% stake in the franchise. According to CNBC’s Leslie Picker, the deal valued Spurs at around $1.8 billion, which would put Sixth Street’s investment at $360 million.

The Barca deal would see Sixth Street continue the influx of American investment into European football. In early June, private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners bought AC Milan in an acquisition that valued the Italian champions at 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion).