Key facts:
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Rakuten, the current main sponsor, paid almost 200 million euros for four years of contract.
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In its entire history, the club had only four advertisers on its shirt.
Fútbol Club Barcelona has received offers from various cryptocurrency exchanges to become the main sponsor of its shirt. However, the institution that has Lionel Messi as its emblem has ruled out this possibility for the moment.
As reported by the EFE agency and reported by Catalan media, the club blaugrana he is listening to offers as his contract with Rakuten loomsJune 30, 2022. The platform e-commerce japanese paid 55 million euros annually during the first three years, but that amount is reduced to 30 million euros in this last year of contract as a sponsor.
The same source states that, if it is not an economically irreconcilable offer, Barcelona is not willing to accept having a cryptocurrency exchange on their t-shirt. The reason is that from the Catalan club they consider this business “unethical”, which they catalog as speculative and risk. Interested companies also consulted about the possibility of appearing on the left sleeve of the clothing, now occupied by Beko, a Turkish manufacturer of household appliances and electronic products.
Historically, Barcelona has been elusive to show off a commercial advertising on his t-shirt. In fact, it was not until the 2006/2007 season that he had a sponsor, although with one caveat: the first to advertise in the blaugrana chest was the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), which for five years wore its logo without offering financial compensation to the club. Moreover, Barcelona collaborated with 1.5 million euros annually with its strategic partner for charitable purposes; this association is maintained today.
With the passage of time, the economic pressures imposed by an increasingly wealthy and competitive football environment made the Catalan entity reconsider its position. In this way, in 2010 Barcelona signed a five-year contract in exchange for 165 million euros with Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organization that carried out educational and social projects in the East. Then, this sponsor was replaced by the airline Qatar Airways in 2013 and until 2016, for 100 million euros.
Barcelona already has a partner in the world of cryptocurrencies
The facts indicate that Barcelona’s reluctance to partner with crypto-asset companies is only limited to exchanges. This is because the club already has a business relationship with Chiliz, the company that owns the platform Socios.com.
As CriptoNoticias reported, the Catalan club owns its fan token on this platform, which collapsed when the token was officially launched in June 2020. In addition to Barcelona, this firm later added other clubs and iconic football teams, such as Arsenal and Manchester City of England and the Argentine National Team, among others.