Barça sign Nike deal, hope to ease financial woes
LaLiga giants Barcelona have announced a new multi-year agreement with kit supplier Nike which will help to further alleviate their financial problems.
Barça have not disclosed how much the deal is worth annually, but president Joan Laporta previously claimed it is set to be the biggest of its kind in world football.
Sources told ESPN the club expect the deal will total significantly more than €100 million ($107m) per year, but that the agreement is incremental and that the total amount is also dependent on certain add-ons.
Figures for these types of deals are not always public in football, but Manchester United committed to a £1 billion ($1.1bn), 10-year partnership with Adidas in 2023.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid are reported to raise around €120m annually from their agreement with Adidas, although that was signed in 2019.
“Barcelona and Nike, two leading brands in the sport industry, are pleased to announce a new start with a multi-year partnership agreement, starting effective this season, that brings a new collaborative strategic partnership model between the two organisations,” Barcelona said in a statement.
“This new partnership consolidates Nike as a main partner of the club and the 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.
“Nike has a key strategic role in the club’s retail operations and together with Barça Licensing & Merchandising will join forces in the development of specific plans related to product creation, supply chain and global distribution.”
Barça and Nike have worked together since 1998 and the new agreement helps consolidate the club’s finances as they attempt to get back within their LaLiga imposed spending limit.
As of September, their cap was set at €426m, with Laporta saying recently they were in excess of that limit by around €60m.
The new deal with Nike will help bridge that gap, although to what extent is unknown, as Barça look to get back into a position whereby they are able to make signings more freely after having problems registering players in recent years.
Despite those problems, the club have made an encouraging start to the new campaign under coach Hansi Flick.
Barça have won 11 of their opening 12 league games to top LaLiga and have won three of their four Champions League games.
They travel to Real Sociedad in the league on Sunday for their final match before the November international break.
