Everyone has that one family member that is always trying to pitch them some insane new invention or get rich quick scheme.
One week itâs a zoo for monkeys recovering from cocaine addiction and the next week they swear that the Spanish Peseta is making a comeback.
Well, Barcelona appears to have morphed into the unfortunate entrepreneur of the football family.
The Catalan club has just announced its intention to launch a cryptocurrency and NFT tokens.
YesâŚcryptocurrency, that famously stable investment asset.
While it is probably best to treat any Barcelona financial scheme with relative skepticism, club president Joan Laporta insists that a cryptocurrency is the only way for the club to remain competitive in modern football.
"We're developing our own metaverse, [which is why] we rejected the chance to be associated with any cryptocurrency enterprises," explained Laporta in an address to the Mobile World Congress.
"We want to create our own cryptocurrency and we have to do that ourselves. We are different because we survive financially from what we can generate through the industry of sport.â
"We do not have big corporations or shareholders behind us. That forces us to be imaginative, innovative, brave, and be a step ahead in many areas that surround the sports industry," continued Laporta."It's something we can share with our fans around the world -- around 300 million of them.â
This roughly translates to something like this:
âWe canât raise money through banks or investors so we are going to ask our fans to give us money through unregulated and often unstable investment assets.â
While no further details have been disclosed on the exact nature of the cryptocurrency or NFTs, we can imagine that the cryptocurrency will be used to purchase Barca merchandise and the NFTs are likely to be attached to tickets or some sort of fan membership model.
Joan Laporta has even suggested that the players, of which many have recently taken pay cuts, are in line to profit from these new schemes.
âThere are clauses in their contracts related to the NFT world and the metaverse," explained Laporta to the congress.
One of the worldâs largest sports teams creating their own metaverse is huge and time will tell if their decision makes them the next Jeff Bezos or just your weird uncle that is convinced that purple cargo shorts are the next growth industry.
đ Story of the Week
The Ronaldo Effect at Man United đ
How many more times do we need to be subjected to Piers Morgan spouting off about some nonsense he absolutely doesnât understand before we release that not everyone deserves to have a social media account.
Itâs not just Piers, social media is full of haphazard opinions presented as fact.
One of the internetâs favourite sports-based myths is the idea that famous footballers instantly earn back their transfer fees with shirt sales.
This idea has been routinely disproven but that didnât prevent it from being floated again when Ronaldo signed with Manchester United.
Just because kit deals are set up in a way that sees most of the money going to the manufacturer, doesnât mean that United failed to see a financial benefit from signing Ronaldo.
United have just released their financial results for the second quarter of their financial year.
With an overall revenue of $246.9 million, the clubâs finances actually grew and have surpassed analystsâ estimates by 6.7%.
One component of this growth was technically the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo.
To be more specific, the areas of âRetail, merchandising, apparel, and product licensing grew 17.7% to $38.9 million.â
This includes money generated from the sale of merchandise related to new signings such as Ronaldo.
While this is a great sign for United, even if Ronaldo contributed to half of the growth of this broad category, he only made around $3 million extra for Unitedâs finances.
âď¸ Deal of the Week
Verstappen Signs Massive New Red Bull Deal
Red Bull has given Max Verstappen a massive new 5-year contract worth a reported ÂŁ40 million a year.
How was this deal finalised?
We imagine that the contract was initially offered to Lewis Hamilton before Verstappen somehow managed to sneak in at the final moment.
Talking of Hamilton, if the figures reported for this deal are correct then Verstappen is now earning roughly the same salary per year as Lewis Hamilton.
While no one doubts that Verstappen has earned a pay rise, many people are shocked that he has managed to squeeze so much money from Red Bull. Although, we imagine Red Bull had some money left over after they were forced to cancel their contract with Michael Masi. (Clearly a joke, we know that Masi was actually working for Williams.)
"I really enjoy being part of the Oracle Red Bull Racing Team, so choosing to stay to the 2028 season was an easy decision," explained Verstappen.
"I love this team and last year was simply incredible, our goal since we came together in 2016 was to win the championship and we have done that, so now it's about keeping the number one on the car long-term."
Red Bull sees Verstappen as crucial to the teamâs transition to becoming an engine manufacturer.
"To have Max signed with Oracle Red Bull Racing through to the end of 2028 is a real statement of intent," explained Horner.
"Our immediate focus is on retaining Max's World Championship title, but this deal also shows he is a part of the team's long-term planning,â he continued. "With the Red Bull Powertrains division working towards the new engine regulations for 2026 we wanted to make sure we had the best driver on the grid secured for that car."
đą Social Media Madness of the Week
Connor McGregor to Buy Chelsea?
Roman Abramovichâs sale of Chelsea F.C. is an incredibly complex and sensitive situation.
Abramovich has brought incredible success, including two Champions League titles, to West London and is considered one of the most influential figures in the past two decades of English and European football.
At the same time, the Russian oligarch and his ownership of Chelsea are unavoidably linked to the abhorrent Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
Given the intense criticism and threats of sanctions, Abramovich has clearly decided it is time to remove himself from Chelsea. Whether that is to protect the club or his own bank balance, the next few days will be incredibly transformative for Chelsea and world football.
Given the horrendous backdrop and massive stakes, you would imagine that everyone would take this sale seriously.
ButâŚthen you have to remember that Connor McGregor exists!
The Irish MMA superstar greeted the news of Chelseaâs sale by suggesting that he would be open to purchasing the club.
McGregor initially tweeted to the official Chelsea Twitter account asking to open a dialogue, before posting a bizarre animated video that appears to show him signing a deal to buy the club.
It would be important to note at this point that McGregor is neither a billionaire nor a fan of Chelsea. In fact, the Notorious MMA is a self-proclaimed Manchester United fan.
While the MMA star earns around ÂŁ25 million per fight and sold his whiskey company for an initial $150 million last year, most estimates put his net worth at around ÂŁ135 million.
While it may seem like McGregor does not have the financial strength to purchase Chelsea, nothing is stopping the MMA star from forming a consortium with a few wealthier individuals.
Before you start imagining McGregor sitting in the owner's box at Stamford bridge, you have to remember that he announced a similar intention to purchase Manchester United less than a year ago.
For anyone still dreaming of the McGregor era at Chelsea, I guess this video will have to do for now: