Skip to main content

Barcelona sign richest shirt sponsor deal ever with Qatar Foundation

As the weight of their potentially crippling debt sinks in, Barcelona have signed a five-year, €150 million ($200 million) deal with the non-profit Qatar Foundation for shared space with UNICEF as the club's shirt sponsors. UNICEF became the club's first ever shirt sponsor in 2006, but Barcelona contributes €1.5 million annually to the organization as part of the deal. This deal with the Qatar Foundation marks the first time in the club's 111-year history that it has been paid to advertise on their shirts. 
From the AP:
Barcelona said the UNICEF name will remain on the shirts and that it would seek a way to combine the two logos, but the Qatar Foundation would be the prevalent one if a solution cannot be found.
The club said the deal could be worth up to 170 million euro ($225 million) with add-ons.
“With this deal, Barcelona places itself as the indisputable brand leader in world football ahead of our international competitors,” Barcelona’s financial vice president Javier Faus said Friday.
Barcelona previously flirted with deals but this marks the first time in the Catalan team’s 111-year history it will be paid to advertise.
Barcelona will receive €30 million per season, topping previous record holders Manchester United and Liverpool by a wide margin.  
[Related: South Africa disappointed in 2010 World Cup profits]
What's odd about this deal is that the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development is a private organization with aims at improving those fields within the borders of the state. It was started by the Emir of Qatar in 1995 and Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, one of the few women to take part in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, serves as chairperson. Given the nature of the foundation (as opposed to the international cause of UNICEF), it's hard not to wonder how sponsoring a Spanish football club will help its stated cause or why it wouldn't be more beneficial to just pump that €150-170 million directly into the foundation. 
Coincidentally, Barca manager Pep Guardiola was a paid ambassador for Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid, while club president Sandro Rosell has been a vocal proponent of the development of a Qatari football academy styled after Barcelona's. 
Amidst rampant speculation over possible backroom deals, whether Qatar is capable of hosting, and the environmental impact of its plan, there are bound to be conspiracy theories that follow this announcement. But regardless of that, Barcelona once again proved they're "more than a club." Like everyone else with a shirt sponsor, they're also now a propaganda tool. 
Photo: Getty Images
Other popular stories on Yahoo!:
• Video: The strangest NFL penalty of the year
• Piece of sports history auctioned off for $4.3 million
• Video: Incredible goal off the back of goalie's mask

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blake Griffin with his head at the rim

After knocking himself out of the 2009-10 season after hurting his knee during a dunk attempt, it's still OK to cringe a bit every time you see Blake Griffin (notes) readying a launch. And apparently, now we have to worry about his head knocking the rim just as much as his knees handling the descent. It speaks to the level of credibility that the Dunk Contest owns these days that when word hit Wednesday that Blake Griffin was open to the idea of entering the NBA's annual stuffing show, we were actually more concerned than excited. Would Griffin, clearly the master of the in-game dunk just two months into his NBA career, be able to in any way match his prowess in an exhibition setting? Was there a risk of him needlessly hurting himself in the process? About 11 minutes into Wednesday's Rockets/Clippers matchup, the worries became outright fears. Because Blake went and did this. That's a 6-9 guy jumping off a surgically repaired kneecap with his head at th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Payroll tax cut worries Social Security advocates

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's plan to cut payroll taxes for a year would provide big savings for many workers, but makes Social Security advocates nervous that it could jeopardize the retirement program's finances. The plan is part of a package of tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits that Obama negotiated with Senate Republican leaders. It would cut workers' share of Social Security taxes by nearly one-third for 2011. Workers making $50,000 in wages would get a $1,000 tax cut; those making $100,000 would get a $2,000 tax cut. The government would borrow about $112 billion to make Social Security whole. Advocates and some lawmakers worry that relying on borrowed money to fund Social Security could eventually force it to compete with other federal programs for scarce dollars, leading to cuts. Social Security taxes "ought to be held sacrosanct," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., chairman of the House Ways and Means subco...
Post a Comment
Read more

Look at Kim Kardashian's Engangement Ring

Behold, the $2 million, 20.5 carat ring Kris Humphries gave to Kim Kardashian . Humphries designed the ring with jeweler Lorraine Schwartz, who is a "longtime Kardashian friend." Kardashian gushed about the rock to People . "In high school I went to Macy's and bought this fake ring, my 'perfect' ring, and this is almost the exact same," she said. "It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It's perfect." Kim said she wanted something that would be "her own," distinct from sister Khloe's $850,000, radiant-cut ring. So they went for an emerald cut, with a 16.5-carat center stone and a couple of two-carat trapezoid stones surrounding it. As for Humphries, it seems the basketball player had one thing on his mind in selecting the perfect ring. "I just knew I wanted it to be big!" he told People . And in that, he undoubtedly succeeded. Bauergriffinonline.com has more photos of Kim Kardashian and ...
Post a Comment
Read more