Very full, many jackets and shirts, especially for men with few ties, which recently seem to have lost their appeal among the elite groups as seen in the article prepared by ‘Sport Culture Barcelona’An association whose name is already self-explanatory and which involves sports and culture. Fernando Carro, CEO of Bayer Leverkusen, Xavi Asensi, general director of Inter Miami, Arturo Canales, president and founder of AC Talent, a representation company, and Tatxo Benet, CEO of Mediapro, who could not attend. meeting and there was none.
Among the audience, personalities closely related to the world of sports, many, and Barça, in particular, such as Víctor Font, Joan Gaspart, Joan Camprubí, Toni Freixa, Gabriel Masfurroll or Carles Tusquets. All of them, along with businessmen, some from this region and some not, went to a meeting that was about the idea: “The future of clubs in international football“. Tatxo Benet, who as we said could not be there, as well as Ferran Soriano, CEO of Manchester City, and Esteve Calzada, CEO of Al-Hilal, gave their vision on the topic through messages reproduced on the screen that covered the room.
On the table, several topics, some subtle, some recent and all well-known: the football market. Carro says: “This is sport, entertainment and business and clubs should be managed like big companies“. Asensi gave a statement that summed up the whole meeting: “The total worldwide sports viewing rights in the market in 2024 was 60 billion dollars; 35% is football. ” Canales added that “clubs are a brand and brands must be created.”
Money and reputation
It was less at that time when Asensi spoke the words of the night: “There is a story that money can’t buy”, meaning, above all, about Barça, since the chief executive of Inter Miami was already (and remains) a member of the culé and worked for ten years as head of the region of the Blaugrana. The event took place at the Col legi d’Economistes de Catalunya, so the event was obviously about economics.
Asensi himself summed it up like this: “When you talk to players at the level of Leo or Busi, the Champions League, Premier League, Bundesliga or League is the competition you want to win. And it has been shown, fortunately, that not to put “You get all the money in the world. There is a story that money can’t buy.” And he gave an example: “See PSG, for example“. Carro summed it up in his own way: “If I were a player and I wanted the respect of the game I would be playing in the Champions League.”
There were talks about the money invested in the signings, as when Canales, causing the laughter of the nobles (being an assistant has his moments), said that the money invested is not much: “I think it does not pay much, everyone. The club does At some level, fight for talent and it depends a good manager to know how to go about it.” And here he nailed it; “It is important to confirm with arguments that go beyond money“.
It was an interesting conversation that ended with Joan Gaspart telling Canales to “don’t think about the Barça player.” It was a friendly turn to talk, as is often the case in these situations. Gaspart was praised.
