Spotify Camp Nou: Streaming giant pens £250m sponsorship with Barcelona
Spotify have agreed a four-year sponsorship deal with Barcelona worth £250m that will result in the club’s stadium being renamed “Spotify Camp Nou” from July.
The streaming giant will feature on the front of the men’s and women’s team shirts for the next four seasons, replacing Japanese firm Rakuten as the main sponsor.
It comes after the Spanish league said Barcelona would head into the next transfer window more than £121m over its spending limit.
Commenting on the deal, Paul Reynolds, MD EMEA at MassiveMusic, told City PM: “It’s no secret that music and football are deeply intertwined, From the iconic UEFA Champions League anthem, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, and even Barcelona’s own anthem ‘Cant del Barça.’ Brands are smart for wanting to tap into this passion. Compared to other stadium sponsors, Spotify is a natural fit – and likely just the start of a longer journey into this space. “
“A large number of Barcelona supporters globally will likely already use the platform and it can work creatively in engaging visiting fans each week, too. Where TikTok has been hugely present at football stadiums for a while now, sponsoring Euro 2020 and Wrexham AFC in the last year, Spotify can use its accolade as most well-known music platform to further engage traditional and younger fans both in and out of the stadium.”
Rivals Real Madrid currently have what is believed to be the biggest sponsorship deal in football, worth around €70m (£58m) a year with airline Emirates, but that is for shirts only and does not include stadium naming rights.
Manchester United have the biggest shirt sponsorship in the Premier League, worth £47m a year with technology company Team Viewer.
Barcelona’s current shirt sponsorship deals, with Rakuten for the men’s team and Stanley Black and Decker for the women’s, are due to expire at the end of this season.
The club is also said to have received sponsorship proposals from cryptocurrency company VeganNation and blockchain platform Polkadot.