Barcelona is "likely to reach its goal" of €1B ($1.23B) in sales "ahead of schedule as income from broadcast rights and tickets surges," club President Josep Maria Bartomeu said, according to Ludlow & Duarte of BLOOMBERG. The world's third-largest football team may reach €900M ($1.11B) in revenue this season, a jump of more than 20% on the previous 12 months, Bartomeu added. The club is reportedly "close to signing a sponsorship agreement to fund an upgrade of facilities including its stadium." Bartomeu said, "We are going to 1 billion euros before 2021, which is good news for the club. It means that the industry of football is increasing, is growing and that is good for fans." Barcelona ranked third in Deloitte’s annual list of football finances, with revenue of €648M for the '16-17 season, trailing Real Madrid and ManU. The Catalan team found itself "in the eye of a political storm in recent months" as separatist leaders in its home region tried to engineer a split from the rest of Spain. Many supporters see the team as a "symbol of Catalan pride" and shouts of "independence" punctuated matches at the team's Camp Nou stadium. Bartomeu: "Sponsors aren't worried about that. Players' main concern is that we have to play and we have to be competitive" (BLOOMBERG, 2/21).
