Barcelona's sports teams other than the football club "will at the end of the season lose their principal sponsor," tire brand Lassa, according to Ramon Palomar of SPORT. The Turkish brand reportedly informed Barcelona it will not renew its contract when it expires next summer. The club signed the deal worth between €4M ($4.6M) and €6M ($7M) annually with Lassa in '15. Lassa reportedly "decided not to renew the deal due to the situation in Turkey, where the value of the lira has dropped." The value of Lassa's shares "has also decreased." Of Lassa's sponsorship of Barcelona, 80% of the total financial contribution is split among the basketball, indoor football, handball and roller hockey teams, with the remaining 20% going to the La Liga side (SPORT, 10/16).
HEADING EAST: Barcelona will visit China and Japan during the '19-20 preseason to foster loyalty among its Asian supporters following two consecutive years of trips to the U.S. The club's highest concentration of fans in the world is in the Asia-Pacific market, where it is developing strategic projects including Mission Hills and the Barça Academies. It will be Barcelona's first trip to Asia since it played a friendly in Qatar in Dec. '16. Barcelona opened an office in Hong Kong in Sept. '13 and currently has 11 regional partners and three global partners (Konami, Oppo and Nestlé Milo) as well as principal partner Rakuten in the Asian market (Barcelona).
