Revealed: The remarkable problem Barcelona faced as they ‘weighed the end of their £90m-a-year Nike deal and the risk of a multi-million fine’
- Nike has been supplying Barcelona with kits since 1998, but the deal seemed risky
- President Joan Laporta initially wanted to leave the sportswear giant
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Barcelona have faced a strange stumbling block as they consider ending their lucrative deal with Nike – and risk a hefty fine worth millions.
Nike has been supplying kits to the LaLiga club since 1998, almost a decade before their famous maroon and blue jerseys first included a main sponsor, but the partnership appeared under threat with Barca president Joan Laporta keen to move on.
The deal, worth just under £90 million a year, has been updated several times and is currently set to last until June 2028. An extension is now likely, however, with Barcelona exhausting all its options after researching alternatives.
In recent weeks, Nike delegates arrived in Barcelona to meet Laporta but, according to Sport, they left quickly after disagreements over the proposal.
Puma had also made an offer to the club and Laporta would have been more inclined to accept this proposal. In doing so, however, Barcelona risked being fined significantly for a possible breach of their contract with Nike.
Barcelona tried to accuse Nike of breach of contract over the name of Robert Lewandowski’s jersey
Club president Joan Laporta wanted to abandon the lucrative £90m-a-year partnership.
Sport claimed that Barcelona, seeking to reduce or avoid any sanctions, had even sought ways to show that Nike itself had broken the contract.
The club reportedly discovered distribution errors, including one occasion when new jerseys were not stocked in stores two seasons ago, to make their point.
Intriguingly, they also accused Nike of failing to consider the names of Barcelona players – with Robert Lewandowski’s jerseys taking the spotlight.
The letter W does not exist in some parts of the world and this has posed a problem for Nike and Barcelona with Lewandowski’s jerseys, the club’s best-seller. Oddly, the solution was to use an upside down M on the jerseys bearing the striker’s name.
Lewandowski’s name is problematic because the letter W is not used in some parts of the world.
Barcelona set to stick with Nike following turnaround after sportswear giant increases offer
This was reportedly one of the arguments Barcelona were preparing to present to a court, although their change of heart prevented a public standoff.
A future alternative to Nike could have seen the Catalan giants make the surprise decision to create their own brand to manufacture their kits in-house.
Nike reportedly improved their offer, but Puma was prepared to pay £17 million and £25 million more. Barcelona are believed to stay with the former after their proposal increased significantly and due to the need to produce kits for next season.
Sport reported that the deal with Nike would last for another 10 seasons.
