A tearful Lionel Messi left Barcelona last year. What next for Camp Nou?
Rebranding.
The iconic stadium is being rebranded as Spotify Camp Nou as part of a sponsorship agreement with Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona that gives Spotify naming rights to the stadium. Needless to say, Spotify’s name will appear on the front of both men’s and women’s team shirts beginning in the 2022/23 season and for the next four seasons. Spotify will also sponsor the training shirts beginning in the 2022/23 season for the next three seasons.
The deal is described as a “first-of-its-kind partnership for the club in bringing the worlds of music and football together” and will “see the pair working together to create opportunities for the iconic shirt to become a space that can celebrate artists from across the world”.
Barcelona’s player roster includes some of the biggest stars, including Gerard Pique and Memphis Depay. The ground is expected to incorporate digital streaming features.
Barcelona’s Camp Nou fcbarcelona.com
“Barcelona and Spotify will work to use the stadium’s audiovisual media and spaces to present and amplify the work of the different artists and connect with Barca’s global audiences through television,” wrote the club. “When the refurbishment of the Stadium is completed with the Espai Barca project, Spotify will be very present in facilities that will be crucial for the future of the Club.”
The Blaugrana have played at Camp Nou since 1957, with this being the ground’s first corporate name change. According to CBS Sports, the deal is reportedly worth $310 million while the Spanish publication SPORT reporting that the amount could have been higher had the number of “registered” fans been higher, that is, fans who gave the club access to names, emails, and other personal information.
FC Barcelona has legions of young fans across the world. According to Spotify, most of Barca’s fans are under the age of 30, which is a hugely important audience for Spotify. Those fans also reside in some of Spotify’s fastest-growing markets, including India, Latin America, and Indonesia.
“As we look to grow the Spotify brand worldwide, there are few partners that have this sort of scale and global reach. Being able to connect music and football fans from Barcelona to Mumbai, Jakarta to Rio de Janeiro, is really a unique opportunity,” Spotify has said in a statement.
Before the Spotify deal, Rakuten, the Japanese retailer, has sponsored the men’s team since 2017 while the toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker became the official shirt sponsor of the women’s team in 2018.