Barcelona reach 'record' deal with Nike for new multi-year contract: Report

The Catalan club have struck a lucrative deal with the famous brand.

Barcelona and the international company Nike have agreed to a new multi-year collaboration. Since 1998, almost ten years before Barca’s iconic maroon and blue shirts even had a major sponsor for the first time, Nike have provided the Catalan powerhouses with uniforms.

Since then, the agreement between the two parties has undergone multiple updates. The most recent one was set to expire in June 2028.

According to reports earlier this year, Barcelona were ready to let go of Nike and looked into a number of alternative possibilities.

Joan Laporta, the club president, reportedly expressed a desire to terminate the collaboration after calling the prior arrangement “less than ideal.”

Earlier this season, Laporta acknowledged that the conditions of the contract had been revised, saying that it would be “the best contract in football”, “when it’s signed.”

However, according to Mundo Deportivo, Nike has made a number of concessions to maintain the partnership.

According to reports, the new agreement, which will be worth £1.4 billion ($1.82 billion) over 14 years, or £105 million ($136 million) annually, will be the highest-paid sponsorship arrangement in sport. In addition, Barcelona will receive a £131 million signing bonus as part of the long-term agreement.

The Spanish club have stated the new deal ‘consolidates Nike as a main partner of the club and official technical partner across all professional and amateur teams, bringing a unique model that strengthens the brands association and fuels the global retail and licensing business growth.’

Barca added that, alongside Nike, ‘they have shared a deep commitment to innovation, creativity, and the pursuit of excellence, both on and off the pitch and experience extraordinary football in four different decades’. 

Since their initial agreement with Nike in 1998, Barcelona have won the UEFA Champions League four times and LaLiga twelve times. Given the Catalans’ recent financial struggles, the new agreement comes at a perfect moment.

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