Spotify debuts in sports sponsorship with Barsa

Sergi Escudero Barcelona, March 15 The agreement that Spotify has signed with FC Barcelona marks the premiere in the sports sponsorship of a multinational company dedicated to streaming music, which will include the first team uniforms for men and women, training clothes and 'ownership rights' in Camp Nou. Spotify has more than 400 million monthly active users, the same number of fans as FC Barcelona fans estimated to be around the world, and for a company founded by Daniel Ek in 2006, the focus of this agreement has 180 million premium subscribers. However, Arsenal may have overtaken the Barça organization at a sports premiere on Spotify. In the spring of 2021, the Swedish corporation proposed a purchase to take control of the English club owned by the American Kroenke Sports and Entertainment (KSE). Then, some British media reported that this figure reached 2,088 million euros. In any case, the owner of Arsenal did not want to sell the club, and Ek himself announced on his Twitter account: “For Josh Kroenke and his bankers, proposals were made, including fan ownership, board representatives, and golden actions for fans. They (KSE) responded that they didn't need money.” Born in 1983 in a suburb of Ragsved (Stockholm), Ek's idea was to nurture and manage the structure of Arsenal with legends from London groups such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, and Patrick Vieira. A year after a frustrated operation, Spotify signed a sponsorship agreement with FC Barcelona. Juli Guiu, vice president of the marketing area of the barça club, was very important in negotiations that officially began when the Swedish multinational made its first company proposal in November. Guiu is a business member of the music world who had a relationship with Daniel Eck before arriving at FC Barcelona due to his election victory by Joan Laporta. He is currently the President and Manager of the Clippers Group and the director of the Cap Loig Festival, Sweet Festival and Room Festival. However, Guiu, who was photographed in the Camp Nou box with some Spotify managers who visited the club's facilities in early February, was not the only face of the Barça organization that took the lead in the negotiations. As the negotiations progressed, there was a presence of Laporta, which was gaining relevance, and Ferran Reverter, the CEO who resigned, and Alex Barbany, the new head of revenue, also took an active part. In addition, FC Barcelona also received external advice. Therefore, finally, the Catalan corporation joins sponsorship agreements with multinational companies that the Board of Directors believes is much more in line with its value than a cryptocurrency company that has made an economically interesting proposition. 1011955 Seji/gmh/ah