FC Barcelona formalized the sponsorship agreement with Spotify after the meeting held by the board of directors chaired by Joan Laporta. The contract, which has already been signed by the council and will come into force from next season, must be ratified by the extraordinary assembly of committing partners to be held on April 3 electronically, as already happened with the approval of the Espai Barca.
The Swedish music playback company streamingwhich will become the main sponsor of the entity, will thus put its name on the shirt of the men’s and women’s first team for the next four seasons starting in the summer of 2022. The agreement will also include the training shirts of both teams for three seasons from the 2022-23 academic year.
Spotify will also be added to the name of the stadium, so that from next July it will be called Spotify Camp Nou. Although the economic terms have not been specified, various sources consulted agree that Barça will earn around 64 million per season, an amount that exceeds the 55 that Rakuten has paid up to now. The advertising amount was completed with Beko (10 million) and Stanley (three). The sum that Spotify will now contribute will exceed 250 million euros.
“We are very proud to announce a pioneering alliance with a world-renowned entity such as Spotify,” said Laporta, after underlining the pioneering nature of a union that “will bring the club and its fans closer together with unique experiences that will combine entertainment with football and will express the unique character of Barça”. Alex Norström, commercial director of Spotify, also congratulated himself for being able to unite “the world of music and football” with the association with Barcelona.
Both parties ensured that the collaboration will offer a global stage to artists, creators, players and fans in the new Spotify Camp Nou and also in the Barça men’s and women’s team shirts. The sponsorship will begin precisely in July, when the work on the Espai Barça is scheduled to begin.
The agreement with Spotify has been delayed due to the many clauses contained in a contract that was taken for granted since the leadership of the Swedish company visited the Camp Nou last February, when Barça received Atlético. Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, has personally led the negotiations with Laporta after he tried to buy Arsenal for 2.4 billion last year.
Halfway through, however, Ferran Reverter distanced himself from the talks, resigning as general director of Barça. The plans of the top executive of the Barça entity, decisive in reducing expenses, disagreed with those of Laporta regarding income and sponsorship, convinced that he could find better formulas.
income need
The Barça entity urgently needs money to be able to comply with the strategic plan and the budget of 765 million if it does not want to have more problems than it already has after it became known that it is the only one that does not comply with the salary limit of LaLiga: it exceeds in 144 million the money set to comply with financial fair play according to the numbers issued by the employer.
The options he is considering are a contract with the CVC investment fund that would bring him some 270 million — 70 million salary bills — and the sale of 49% of Barça Studios, the audiovisual production company for which he would obtain some 350 million. Spotify’s contribution is not currently available because the agreement is from next season, 2022-23. The expectations to be able to sign a figure like Haaland have been reduced by Laporta himself after verifying the delicate economic situation of Barcelona.
A highly profitable business and the anti-vaccine controversy
Spotify, the audio subscription service in streaming best known in the world, it was founded in Sweden in 2006. It has 180 million paid subscribers, in addition to 406 million registered users in its free version. Its founder, Daniel Ek, who tried to buy Arsenal in 2021, was 23 years old when he launched the project. He now has the majority of the shares (18.2%), while his partner Martin Lorentzon, who is among the 500 richest men in the world, holds 11.8%. In 2021, Spotify entered 2,689 million euros, of which 506 million were from advertising contracts.
In February, the Swedish company was forced to condemn the racist insults of the podcast by Joe Rogan, known for his anti-vaccine theories. Despite innumerable requests, the platform did not cancel Rogan’s program, which it acquired in 2021 for 91 million euros.
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