Since December 29, 2023, the Argentine entertainment and communication businessman Marcelo Figoli (Buenos Aires, 57 years old) is the owner of Burgos CF. Among the assets of his business conglomerate are Radio Rivadavia, the second station with the most audience in his country, the promoter of Shakira and Luis Miguel’s world tours, amusement parks and food and energy companies. “Football is the most important entertainment asset on the planet and it coincides with what I have been doing for 35 years,” he defends as a letter of introduction. His knowledge of the world of leisure pushes him to rule out that football is disengaging the new generations and that its format must be modified. “I am innovative in the world of entertainment, but conservative in football, I am a big football fan and a big fan. I like the format with which I was born and watched football all my life. How do you sell it to new generations? We have to innovate, LaLiga works well in that sense.”
Like every time a foreign investor takes control of a Spanish football club, bad experiences trigger suspicions. The social masses demand truthful information about the sports-economic project of the new owner of their football feelings. The fans want to know if the current investor is coming to market with players or if he has mere speculative interests in the purchase, but above all they want to be sure that the new ownership will not destroy the club. “To put an end to doubts, I come to do a good business because I am not dedicated to philanthropy or charity, but regardless of that, business cannot be done if there is not a good idea that makes what one takes grow. “, asserts Figoli, a staunch Boca Juniors fan, which a priori is a guarantor of his involvement with Burgos from a passionate point of view.
Just a few hours have passed since Burgos was defeated in its half-renovated El Plantío stadium in the derby with Mirándes (0-1), which meant abandoning the promotion positions to the First Division, the objective that will become investment in fruitful. “I didn’t sleep until four in the morning,” says Figoli, leaning back in the seat of one of the offices located in the club’s old offices, which contrast with his airs as a transformative and innovative businessman. “They will soon be remodeled,” comments one of his advisors on the narrow access staircase.
“In Burgos there is a business opportunity, but that does not mean that since December 29, when I bought the first part (76% of the club’s shares) and since January 6, when I arrived as owner of Burgos, I have become attached and I have become a fan. That passion exists because one begins to empathize with the fan, with the city, and there is a very great opportunity. I would love to be the architect of Burgos reaching that moment in terms of football that it needs to have,” he responds when asked if he is aware that the football business is supported, with its consumption, by the feelings of the fans. In its case, to reinforce the identity and power of the brand, it aims to merge the club with the historical and cultural heritage of the city. The figure of the Cid Campeador as an icon is in his head because it is deeply rooted in Argentine education through teaching. “Burgos has strengths that have to do with culture and tourism with which the team has to identify. We are choosing the new shirts for next season and they will have a lot of identification with those cultural strengths that allow the city and the club to be strengthened.”
Figoli claims to have tried not to offend sensitivities since his appearance in Burgos. He says he has spoken a lot and sincerely with all the living forces in the city related to the club. This week the purchase of the entire entity will be completed, minus the minimum percentage reserved for minority shareholders, generally safeguarding the values of the clubs’ identity. “They deserve a lot of respect, theirs is more out of passion, not business. I think they are very happy, but you can ask them.” Another indication that he did not intend to enter the club like an elephant in a china shop was the renewal of Michu, the sports director, adored by the Burgos fans because under his direction the club returned to the Second Division and professional football after 19 years of absence. “When we arrived there was a very important affection towards him. I didn’t bring it, in most purchases the directors come with the new property. I think we managed to make Michu’s story coexist with Burgos and with our new management. So far it is giving good results. And we have brought everything you have asked of us.”
Figoli does not hide that the phrase he has heard most times from most of his interlocutors is that the category is complicated. “We don’t have the highest salary limit, but we don’t have the lowest either. I have a demanding look, I want the leading team, fighting at the top, trying to reach the play-off or being promoted directly, I don’t want a team that doesn’t believe it, that believes only in permanence. That is the difference, at least in the head, from the previous season to this one.”
In ten months of management of the new property, the salary limit has doubled from 4 to eight million euros and there has been a 15% increase in subscribers, which now number just over 9,000. “The club has improved commercially and its value has grown, I have already had purchase offers, but the club is not for sale. We will try to expand our business, our head is 360. We want to reach the First Division and we have to be prepared for it. We will build a modern, multi-purpose stadium, we want to build a cutting-edge architectural work.”
As an investor, Figoli admits that the purchase of Burgos is a gamble and a risk. “Most investors don’t do well, but some do. And what can I say, I don’t feel better than anyone, but we have a method, an honest team and we can lead Burgos to be a good business,” he asserts. “I read an interview with Florentino Pérez in which he said that when he arrived at Real Madrid the suggestion of most of his advisors was to lower expenses because the club was bankrupt and he said the same thing that I said when I arrived at Burgos. The important thing here is to improve income, not lower expenses, expenses must be assumed, lowering them is for economists, for businessmen it is just the opposite. “This is my vision,” he concludes.