Nuance to Spotify deal reveals the lengths Barcelona are going to make money
James Shearman
- Updated: 4 Apr 2022 20:28 BST
- 3 min read
The deal for Spotify to become the main shirt sponsor and stadium naming rights holder of Barcelona will come into effect in the summer of 2022, when the current deal with Rakuten ends.
There had been concerns at how the departure of Lionel Messi would hurt the Catalan club in terms of sponsorship, but Joan Laporta and co. are delighted with this new deal.
However, a possible intricacy highlights just how much financial trouble Barca are in.
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According to journalist Alvaro Romeo, there is a chance that the names of artists and/or albums could feature on the club's match kits.
This is unheard of in the football industry, and would certainly spark plenty of discussion, most of it likely to be criticism.
How much is Spotify paying Barcelona?
In total, Spotify have so far agreed to pay Barcelona €435m. But, it should be noted that there are different phases to the 12 years of the deal.
The only part that has been agreed for the full 12 years is the stadium naming rights, with €5m to be paid in each of the first four years and then €20m in each of the next eight years, once the redevelopment work on the venue has been completed.
With the shirt sponsorship, so far the two parties have only committed to a deal worth €57.5m and €2.5m in add-ons for each of the first four seasons, plus €5m in training kit sponsorship for the next three years.
Barcelona 🤝 Spotify
If my Catalan is good enough then I have understood that Barcelona's 22/23 playing shirt might show names of songs or artists up to 5 times per season (3 in the league/2 for UEFA).
e.g.: Rosalía - Motomami
The ground will be called Spotify Camp Nou. 100%— Alvaro Romeo (@Alvaro_Romeo) April 4, 2022
The fact that there are various phases to this collaboration makes it complicated to state a simple per-season figure, since we don’t know how much the shirt sponsorship will be worth from 2026 onwards.
Looking at just the next four years – when, remember, the stadium naming rights fee is considerably smaller than it will be after 2026 – Barcelona will earn at least €265m in total plus some performance-related add-ons. That works out at €66.5m per season, more than the €55m per year that Rakuten agreed to pay previously.
