This is how Barça will recover the millions lost from the Miami match.

Barcelona"We'll go play in Miami on December 20th." That was the blunt statement made by Barça's executive president, Joan Laporta, upon leaving the boardroom luncheon with Olympiacos. He was responding to criticism of the initiative from two Real Madrid players, Thibaut Courtois and Dani Carvajal, who accused the players involved of wanting to "adulterate" the competition. But hours later, the Barça official's determination proved fruitless: the promoter of the controversial match, Relevent, decided to suspend the match "due to the uncertainty generated in Spain in recent weeks." Relevent is the company that organizes friendlies in the United States for the major European clubs. Barça has been a client, as has Real Madrid, which has led the campaign against the match in Miami within the framework of Florentino Pérez's historic feud with Javier Tebas.

For Barça, visit Villarreal in the United States within the framework of the "internationalization" of the League was part of the tightrope walking to take care of relationships with the Spanish employers' association, which is also the governing body fair play financial and, therefore, who decides each club's ability to operate in the transfer market. But aside from politics, Laporta's motivation for challenging even the criteria of Hansi Flick and the players was above all economic. The initiative involved at least five million euros, which, according to Laporta himself, should be used to immediately correct the loss of income caused by playing for the Joan Gamper Trophy and two La Liga matches (Valencia and Getafe) at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, which seats 6,000. The president himself acknowledged this at the last assembly, when asked by a delegate. "Miami will more than make up for what we lost to play for Johan," explained the president.

The cancellation of the match now forces a rethink of the narrative and a rethink of the strategy in the offices. The 25-26 season budget, with a meager expected profit of five million, directly depends on the return date to Camp Nou, which remains a mystery due to delays in construction and obtaining permits for reopening. By mid-October, the safety of only the south stand and goal had been guaranteed, forcing the institution to begin a third season of exile on Montjuïc because, according to general manager Manel del Río, "it is not sustainable" to open Camp Nou with only 26,000 spectators (Phase 1a). The official priority is to accelerate the reopening of the ground with 45,450 people (Phase 1b) in November, coinciding with Athletic Club's visit to Barcelona. However, the failure of the match in Miami, and the corresponding financial blow that it represents, forces Barça not to lose more money on ticket sales, a need that the club is considering alleviating by once again extending its stay at Montjuïc, which has a capacity 5,000 seats greater than a Camp Nou enabled with phase 1b.

Monetize Montjuïc while the permits are resolved

Considering that Lluís Companys has already readjusted, that the permits to reopen the Camp Nou side will be delayed due to a lack of supply of some essential materials, and that the 225 million euro revenue from ticket and season ticket sales must be reached no matter what, it begins to make sense to wait for the initially planned reopening: the 6 million euro. This is the approximate figure Barça projected for the first reopening date: November 29, 2024, coinciding with the club's 125th anniversary. In fact, at Sunday's assembly, vice president Elena Fort predicted that Phase 1c would be ready "by the end of 2025," which makes even more sense than reopening with Phase 1b for four matches that would be played with fewer fans than at Montjuïc. Only if the permits for the first division were long-term would it be justified to have 45,000 people in the stands for the first matches at the new Camp Nou.

While working to obtain the permits for Aristides Maillol's stadium, the club can continue to monetize Montjuïc at a good pace. Unlike the failed match in Miami, the sensational box office receipts at the Olympic Mountain (more than 46,000 people against Olympiacos, for example) will compensate not only for the three matches played at the Johan, but also for the fact that a return to Camp Nou was initially budgeted for 26,000.