FC Barcelona Announces New Nike Record Sponsorship Deal

Through an official statement sent to members of the press and published on social media, FC Barcelona announced its new sponsorship deal with kit supplier Nike which has been reported as the highest paid in soccer.

"FC Barcelona and Nike, two leading brands in the sports industry, are pleased to announce the start of a new multi-year partnership agreement, which will take effect from this season and which brings a new model of strategic partnership of collaboration between the two organizations," the Catalan club began in its correspondence.

"This new partnership consolidates Nike as the main partner of the Club and the official technical partner of all professional and amateur teams, providing a unique model that strengthens the partnership of brands and drives the growth of the global retail and licensing business.

"Nike plays a key strategic role in the Club's retail operations and together with Barça Licensing & Merchandising, they will join forces in developing specific plans in product creation, supply chain and global distribution," it added.

Barca explained how the two parties signed their first agreement in 1998 and have shared "a deep commitment to innovation, creativity and the pursuit of excellence both on and off the field" where they have "lived most of four decades of extraordinary football".

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Barca mentioned the four Champions League titles it has won in male soccer since, in addition to 12 La Liga crowns, three Club World Cups and three European Super Cups among other accolades.

The club didn't mention any figures, but Mundo Deportivo and outlets including Culemania have reported that Barca will receive $1.82 billion (€1.7 billion) from Nike over 14 seasons at an average of around $129.5 million (€121 million) per year.

From 2024 to 2028, the agreement will reportedly be improved by around $51.4 million (€48 million) per year. Then beyond 2028, between $62 million (€58 million) and $64 million (€60 million) more per year.

Irrespective of how the money is spread out, the arrangement is believed to be the highest-paid sponsorship deal in soccer history.

While the agreement wasn't expected to be finalized until next week, Culemania director Victor Malo explained that everything "sped up" on Thursday night which led to President Joan Laporta calling an emergency board meeting on Friday to sign off on the deal.

On Saturday, the club has now come forward and publicly confirmed it, though it isn't believed that a cash injection from Nike will be enough to sort out Financial Fair Play (FFP) issues related to summer signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor.