Barcelona's iconic stadium to be re-branded as Spotify Camp Nou?
According to Catalan radio station Rac1, the La Liga side has agreed to a three-year deal with Spotify worth 280 million euros.
FollowNext season, Barcelona could be playing at Spotify Camp Nou if the Catalan club seals a stadium and shirt sponsorship deal with the streaming music platform. According to Catalan radio station Rac1, the La Liga side has agreed to a three-year deal with Spotify worth 280 million euros.Â
With an official announcement expected soon, the deal would see Barcelona men's and women's teams bear the Spotify logo on their shirts and training gear. Reports suggested that the iconic Camp Nou naming rights is also part of the deal to see Spotify become the first brand to sponsor the stadium.
The reported deal comes just a month after Spotify owner Daniel Ek attempted to buy Arsenal from Stan Kroenke. Ek was preparing a two billion-pound bid to take over the North London club after his opening offer of 1.8 billion pounds had been rejected. However, Kroenke refused to sell Arsenal. Â
The Catalan club had no sponsorship on their shirts until 2006. Unicef became the first name to appear on the shirts. In 2011, Barcelona signed a deal with Qatar Foundation, eventually becoming Qatar Airways. That relationship ended in 2017 when the La Liga giants signed a 55 million euros a season deal with Japanese retailer Rakuten. While the men's team has worn Rakuten's logo, and the women's team official shirt sponsor has been toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker since 2018.
Barcelona's deal with Rakuten runs out at the end of this season, and the club has been reviewing options in the last few months. Despite facing a stiff financial crisis, the Catalan club continued to attract widespread commercial interest. And now, Barcelona is said to be close to agreeing on a kit sponsorship agreement with Spotify.
Barcelona CEO Reverter resigns for personal reasons
The news of a possible sponsorship deal with the streaming music platform comes even as Ferran Reverter informed club president Joan Laporta on Tuesday of his wish to resign as Chief Executive Officer for personal and family reasons. According to Barcelona's website, Reverter's resignation will come into effect when the club has appointed a new CEO.
Reverter was officially appointed CEO of FC Barcelona on 1 July 2021 and since then has led a project to restructure the club. Reverter's statement following his resignation read, "It is now almost a year since I left Germany to return to Barcelona for family reasons and shortly after I accepted the offer that I received from president Joan Laporta to become CEO of the club."Â
"These have been passionate months, and I thank the president for his trust and, above all, his enthusiasm and capacity for leadership that mean FC Barcelona now has a first-class executive team that is able to reposition Barça as a world leader. Personally, I have put in much effort and dedication during these months, but I now wish to focus on the reason why I returned to Barcelona, which is to spend more time on personal and family projects," his statement concluded.
