Barça selling TV rights stake to U.S. investment firm Sixth Street

Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona has agreed in principle to sell a 10% stake in its television media rights to U.S. private equity firm Sixth Street for €205 million (approximately $217 million), Axios has learned from a source familiar with the deal.

Why it matters: American investors keep pushing deeper into Europe's most popular sport.

Backstory: Barcelona recently agreed to sell up to 25% of its TV rights, plus nearly 50% of its merchandising business, in an effort to shore up its finances.

• Sixth Street, which declined comment via a spokesperson, has been very active in the pro sports space.
• It recently purchased a 20% stake in the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, agreed to invest $380 million into Real Madrid for a 30% stake in future stadium revenue and bought a majority stake in sports and entertainment group Legends alongside affiliates of the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys.

Details: The agreement also applies to streaming, and it's unclear if the club is in talks to sell the remaining 15% of its TV rights that Sixth Street isn't purchasing.

• News of the deal first appeared in a Spanish media report.