Barcelona, Spain. Photo Credit: Ansar Naib
In mid-March, Spotify announced an over $300 million sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona, including jersey branding and stadium-naming rights. Now, the Barcelona Members Assembly has officially ratified the multiyear pact and revealed some of the specifics thereof.
Upon unveiling the massive agreement with FC Barcelona last month – nearly one year after Daniel Ek indicated that he’d like to buy Arsenal – Spotify disclosed that its “brand” would arrive on “the front of both men’s and women’s team shirts and training shirts” for the 2022-2023 season.
Additionally, the audio-entertainment platform relayed that the 123-year-old soccer club (known colloquially as Barça) would rename its famed stadium Spotify Camp Nou – provided that members signed off on the plans.
As mentioned at the outset, however, the Barcelona Members Assembly has formally approved the long-term partnership with Spotify, which FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta described as “the best sponsorship agreement for Barça ever.”
Laporta likewise acknowledged “a confidentiality clause, applicable in all of Spotify’s global” deals, and FC Barcelona indicated that 625 delegate members (89 percent) had voted in favor of the Spotify “strategic alliance,” with 49 votes against and 27 votes left blank. (During what was “the first virtual Assembly in the Club’s history,” participating individuals cast votes on their phones.)
Overall, “Spotify will appear associated with the stadium for the next 12 seasons at least,” Laporta said, and the aforementioned jersey-branding component is set to initiate “in the 2022/23 season and for the next four seasons” for the male and female teams alike. Meanwhile, FC Barcelona players are expected to dawn Spotify-branded training jerseys “beginning in the 2022/23 season for the next three seasons.”
Camp Nou is also poised to become Spotify Camp Nou, as highlighted, and higher-ups pointed to “two phases, one while the renovation work for Espai Barça takes place, and another long-term agreement, once the future Camp Nou is complete.”
Lastly, regarding the nuances of the Spotify-FC Barcelona contract, execs communicated that the multifaceted union involves all manner of “advertising assets,” including but not limited to “electronic perimeter board advertising in Camp Nou and Estadí Johan Cruyff,” “panels in the press room,” “imagery on the team benches,” “advertising canvases next to the goal and frame on the pitch,” and “advertising canvases on training pitches.”
A 30-page-long presentation from FC Barcelona features a number of mock images of the Spotify-branded uniforms as well as Spotify Camp Nou, including a yellow rendition of the company’s name and logo, visible from the sky, on the 99,354-capacity stadium’s seats.
Plus, officials stated that the sizable deal will afford Spotify access to FC Barcelona’s starting roster “to develop exclusive content” and to a collection of “VIP boxes” and related hospitality offerings.
The Stockholm-based service is also preparing to coordinate with Barça Studios on “the creation of audiovisual content,” and FC Barcelona members and fan-club members will enjoy “exclusive benefits” on Spotify, discounted subscription plans among them, per the soccer club.
Back in Q4 2021, AEG announced that its Staples Center would be renamed the Crypto.com Arena.