Tension between Barcelona and Nike, working together without a contract since 2016

Nike have outfitted Barcelona since 1998, but they’ve been doing it without a contract since 2016 according to Marca. Just an agreement unites the two brands; first, this was because there were disagreements, and then the pandemic and the need to elect a new president at Camp Nou further complicated matters. Tensions are said to exist.

Josep Maria Bartomeu announced that Barcelona and Nike had renewed their agreement until 2028 in 2016, with the Catalan club receiving a fixed sum of €105m per season that, with variables, could reach €155m. As well as a kit deal, that gave Nike access to right of association, the use of the Barcelona brand and both advertising and hospitality rights. That was scheduled to come into effect once the existing deal ran out in 2018.

When the time to formalise the contract came, however, difficulties emerged. That was when the Coronavirus pandemic further complicated things, as did the lull when Bartomeu left the presidency in disgrace and a long wait for his successor to be appointed ensued. There have been meetings between Nike and Joan Laporta this summer, but nothing’s come to fruition yet.

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