- Spotify's name will appear on the front of both the Men’s and Women’s team shirts of FC Barcelona beginning in the 2022/23 season and for the next four seasons.
- The deal is said to be worth a total of about $310 million.
- The CEO of FC Barcelona, Ferran Reverter is reported to have resigned in protest against the partnership and in particular in disagreement of the name change
Spotify, the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service buys naming rights on FC Barcelona’s iconic soccer stadium, Camp Nou.
The Camp Nou is being rebranded as part of a sponsorship agreement between FC Barcelona and Spotify which gives the naming rights of the stadium to the audio streaming service.
The deal is said to be worth a total of about $310 million. The thought of ever selling the naming rights to Camp Nou would have once been impossible but within the landscape that the Catalans currently operate, it has been deemed a necessary evil to offset their financial crisis.
FC Barcelona’s Extraordinary Delegate Members Assembly are set to vote on the deal on April 3, which will without doubt be passed as the cash-strapped Catalan club continue to look for avenues to alleviate its huge debt.
The Swedish audio streaming company will thus become the Main Partner of the Club and their Official Audio Streaming Partner.
What does this mean for Barca?
Spotify’s name will appear on the front of both the Men’s and Women’s team shirts of FC Barcelona beginning in the 2022/23 season and for the next four seasons.
Spotify will also sponsor the training shirts beginning in the 2022/23 season for the next three seasons.
Alex Norström, Spotify’s chief freemium business officer, said in a statement that “Spotify is working with Barca to leverage our access to in-stadium elements to amplify artists and enable discovery.
“For example, using the dynamic digital displays to showcase and geo-target relevant artists to Barca’s global TV audience. While viewers in Europe may see a message about one artist, TV viewers in India could be served a different and locally relevant message.”
This could mean that Spotify will be investing in those digital stadium ads that change based on your location and the channel you’re watching the game on.
The partnership represents a unique investment in that, it is a first-of-its-kind in bringing the worlds of Music and Football together.
It is an opportunity for players and artists to be given a global stage at the new Spotify Camp Nou Stadium and to build new opportunities to connect artists and players with fans around the world.
Statement of Joan Laporta, President of FC Barcelona
“We are very proud to announce a pioneering alliance like this with a world-renowned organization like Spotify.
“This partnership will allow us to continue to bring the Club closer to its fans and make them feel, even more, part of the Barca family through unique experiences, combining two activities such as entertainment and football, making it possible for us to connect with new audiences around the world.
“It is also a union with which we continue to take steps forward in this new era that we have started, and which demonstrates, once again, the innovative character and the constant search of excellence that distinguish Barca and have made it a unique club in the world.”
CEO resigns in wake of new deal
The CEO of FC Barcelona, Ferran Reverter is reported to have resigned in protest against the partnership and in particular in disagreement of the name change.
He is believed to have considered the offering of publicity on the front of the jerseys and the stadium naming rights as too high of a price to pay for what he believed will result in a loss of the clubs identity.
That is what Reverter believes and there is little doubt that the majority of die hard Barca fans agree.
However, the president of the Catalan club, Joan Laporta, believes that the need to stay financially afloat despite the clubs poor financial records married with the need to stay competitive means such deals are what the club needs right now in order to survive the current climate.
Festus Oppong Kwabena Asante
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