FC Barcelona announces historic new record sponsorship deal for Nike

Through an official statement sent to the press and published on social mediaFC Barcelona has announced its new sponsorship deal with kit sponsor Nike, who is reportedly the highest-paid player in football.

“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 come into effect from this season and which will bring a new model of strategic partnership between the two organizations” , the Catalan began in his correspondence.

“This new partnership consolidates Nike as the club’s key partner and the official technical partner of all professional and amateur teams, offering a unique model that strengthens the partnership of brands and drives the growth of the global retail and licensing business.

“Nike plays an important strategic role in the club’s retail activities and together with Barça Licensing & Merchandising they will join forces in developing specific plans in the areas of product creation, supply chain and global distribution,” it added.

Barca explained how the two sides signed their first agreement in 1998 and shared “a deep commitment to innovation, creativity and the pursuit of excellence, both on and off the pitch”, where they have enjoyed “the best part of four decades of extraordinary football lived”.

Barcelona cited the four Champions League titles it has since won in men’s football, alongside 12 La Liga crowns, three Club World Cups and three European Super Cups among other honours.

The club did not announce any figures, But Mundo Deportivo And other outlets including Culemania have reported that Barça will receive $1.82 billion (1.7 billion euros) from Nike over fourteen seasons, with an average of around $129.5 million (121 million euros) per year.

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

Regardless of how the money is split, the scheme is believed to be the highest-paid sponsorship deal in football history.

Although the deal was not expected to be finalized until next week, Culemania director Victor Malo explained that everything “accelerated” on Thursday evening, leading to President Joan Laporta calling an emergency meeting of the board of directors on Friday to sign the deal.

The club now reported on Saturday and confirmed this publicly, although a cash injection from Nike is not expected will be enough to resolve Financial Fair Play (FFP) issues regarding summer signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor.