Barcelona on Monday agreed to award its audiovisual rights to Telefónica for the '15-16 season, "ending an eight-year partnership with Mediapro," according to Corpas & Piña of EL MUNDO. Barcelona will earn a quantity "similar to its current deal," €140M ($160M). The club also reached a sponsorship deal worth €40M ($45M) over the next three years in which Telefónica becomes the club's regional partner in Latin America. Next year, Telefónica will have broadcast rights for Barcelona, Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad, while Mediapro will have the rights for Real Madrid. It "should be pointed out that Spain's government is finishing a law that would require the centralized sale of TV rights, and this would produce a more balanced distribution than the current model" (EL MUNDO, 2/16).
OTHER AGREEMENTS: Barcelona's board also extended the club's contract with Aftershare for the production of content for the Barça Fans platform. The club also approved the opening of two new schools, in Tokyo and Copenhagen. Barcelona's basketball team will wear the logo of the "Scholas Occurrentes" educational charity during this season's Copa del Rey, which begins Thursday (Barcelona).
