Barcelona and Qatar Airways extended their shirt sponsorship agreement for one more season, until June 30, 2017, under the same conditions as the current deal. Qatar Airways has doubled the frequency of its flights to Barcelona and Madrid since it started sponsoring the club in '13. Qatar Airways and Barcelona have also worked closely to develop strategies to promote Barça in Asia (Barcelona). ESPN.com's Dermot Corrigan reported relations between Barcelona and Qatar Airways "grew strained" after club President Josep Maria Bartomeu criticized the Gulf state's internal politics during presidential elections last summer. It had "nonetheless been expected that the shirt deal would be renewed," with Qatar also providing support for Barça's planned €600M ($661M) expansion of its Camp Nou stadium. However, negotiations "dragged on for almost a year," and the new '16-17 kit went on sale without any sponsor on the jersey. In early June, Barcelona Marketing & Communication VP Manel Arroyo said that "a dozen big global companies" had been in touch over replacing Qatar Airways on the shirt, and that the new deal would be for €60M ($66M) to €65M ($72M) a year. The club statement announcing the continuation of the deal "suggests the club will take in around half that sum" (ESPN.com, 7/19). REUTERS' Richard Martin reported Spanish media reports said that the extension increased the annual value of the deal to around €35M ($38.6M). The club is in negotiations to "replace the airline from the end of next season with U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon," in a three-year deal that Barcelona-based newspaper Sport said would be worth up to €45M ($50M) a year. In Dec. '10, Barcelona agreed to a five-year deal with the Qatar Foundation worth €30M per year, "at that time the most lucrative shirt sponsorship in football" (REUTERS, 7/19).
COSTLY DECISION: MARCA reported the Catalan club's "delay in committing to the deal" has cost it €25M ($27.5M). Former club Economic VP Javier Faus "had come to an agreement with the airline at the end of last season" to renew for €60M, a contract "which was never signed given Barcelona's hesitation over extending the partnership" (
MARCA, 7/19).
ANOTHER LENGTHY PROCESS?: In Barcelona, Albert Masnou reported Barça and Amazon "continue to negotiate a sponsorship agreement," with sources saying that the pair are far from finalizing a deal. Currently, Amazon would not offer more than €45M ($50M) per season but the club is asking for "far more." The basis of the talks between Barcelona and Amazon is centered on a three-year contract from '17-18 through '20-21 (SPORT, 7/19).
