For the Catalan people, FC Barcelona is more than a soccer club. It is a potent symbol of regional and cultural pride—even political defiance. But it is also more than just a Catalan club. The club's players have helped make the Spanish national team current World Cup holders and European champions, and helped make Spanish soccer a highly marketable global product.

Deloitte estimates that Barcelona is the world's second most valuable soccer club after its most bitter Spanish rival Real Madrid, generating revenues totalling €451 million over the 2010/11 season; Forbes has it at number 8 on its list of the world's most valuable sporting franchises—a list that includes all the NFL teams.

Perhaps not surprisingly this soccer behemoth has a massive fan base that stretches far beyond its home in the northeastern region of Catalonia, across Spain and beyond. About 1,500 supporter clubs are registered with Barcelona, the majority outside of Catalonia.

But some non-Catalan fans are finding their emotional ties to the club coming under strain as Spain's economic crisis gives way to growing calls in Catalonia for independence.

Nationalist fervor reached fever pitch during an Oct. 7 match against Real Madrid. Fans at Barcelona's 98,000-seater Camp Nou stadium held up cards to form the red-and-yellow striped flag of Catalonia and punctuated the air with calls for independence.