FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed that the LaLiga club is poised to sign a wide-ranging deal with Spotify that would grant the music streaming service naming rights to the revamped Camp Nou.
Reports emerged last week that Barcelona was set to sign a three-year deal with Spotify for both the naming rights to the Camp Nou and front-of-shirt sponsorship rights.
The deal, first reported by Catalan radio station Rac1, will be worth a reported €280m (£234m/$317m). Spotify would become the first-ever naming-rights sponsor of the Camp Nou, which is to undergo major renovation work as part of Barcelona’s Espai Barça project.
Laporta has now confirmed that Spotify represents the “best option” for naming rights to the stadium, with a deal set to be announced imminently.
“We are working, everything is going quite well,” Laporta said, according to Spanish newspaper Marca. “We will announce it when the contract arrives from Spotify, then we will have to approve it at the general assembly of delegates.”
Laporta added: “After the negotiations that we have been carrying out for a few months, we thought that it was the best option, and we continue to think so. It links us to music and we think it’s a great decision.”
Last week also saw Barcelona chief executive Ferran Reverter resign from his position after less than a year due to “personal and family reasons”. According to reports, Reverter’s resignation was linked to the terms of Barcelona’s agreement with Spotify.
Commenting on Reverter’s departure, Laporta said: “He told us that he needed a sabbatical year. We have thanked him for the services provided and we have wished him well. This is my opinion. The organisation remains strong on the path of reversing the financial situation and improving sportingly … one thing leads to the other.”
Japanese ecommerce group Rakuten currently serves as the main sponsor of Barcelona’s men’s team. Spotify would also assume front-of-shirt sponsorship rights with the club’s women’s team, which is currently sponsored by toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker.
The Espai Barça project will see the Camp Nou’s capacity increase from 98,000 to 105,000. The club’s members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a funding proposal for the project in December.
The online referendum saw 87.87% of members vote to ratify a decision made by the club’s delegate members in October to back the board of directors’ proposal to negotiate a financing operation of up to €1.5bn for the project.
The Espai Barça project also includes the delivery of a new Palau Blaugrana arena and the wide-ranging Campus Barça development. Barcelona hopes to begin work on the Camp Nou expansion this summer and finish the project by 2025. The club hopes to complete work on the Palau Blaugrana by 2026.
Photo by Ken Russo on Unsplash
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