- Nike has supplied kits to Barcelona since 1998, but the deal seemed at risk
- President Joan Laporta was initially interested in leaving the sportswear giant.
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Barcelona faced a strange hurdle as it weighed ending its lucrative deal with Nike and risked a hefty fine worth millions.
Nike has supplied kits to the LaLiga club since 1998, almost a decade before its famous maroon and blue shirts included a main sponsor for the first time, but the partnership seemed at risk and Barça president Joan Laporta was willing to go ahead.
The deal, valued at just under £90m a year, has been updated several times and currently runs until June 2028. However, an extension is now likely as Barcelona have exhausted all their options after looking for alternatives.
In recent weeks, Nike delegates arrived in Barcelona to meet with Laporta but, according to Sporthe left quickly after disagreements over the proposal.
Puma had also made an offer to the club and it is believed that Laporta was more inclined to accept this proposal. However, by doing so, Barcelona risked receiving a significant fine for possible breach of their contract with Nike.
Barcelona tried to accuse Nike of breach of contract over the name on Robert Lewandowski’s shirt
Club president Joan Laporta was willing to leave the lucrative £90m-a-year partnership behind.
Sport has claimed that Barcelona, struggling to reduce or avoid any punishment, even looked for ways to prove that Nike had breached the contract.
The club is said to have found distribution errors, including an occasion when there were no new shirts in stores two seasons ago, to press its case.
In a curious move, they also accused Nike of disregarding the names of Barcelona players, with Robert Lewandowski’s shirts in the spotlight.
The letter W does not exist in some parts of the world and this created a problem for both Nike and Barcelona, with Lewandowski’s shirts being the club’s best sellers. Curiously, the solution was to use an upside-down M on the shirts that bore the striker’s name.
Lewandowski’s name was a problem with the letter W not being used in some parts of the world
Barcelona will stay with Nike after a U-turn after the sportswear giant increased its offer.
This was reportedly one of the arguments that Barcelona were outlining to present in court, although their U-turn has prevented a public confrontation.
A future alternative to Nike may have seen the Catalan giants take the surprise step of creating their own brand to manufacture their kits in-house.
Nike was said to have improved its offer, but Puma was willing to pay £17 million and £25 million more. It is believed that Barcelona will take the former after their bid rose significantly and due to the need to produce kits for next season.
Sport reported that the agreement with Nike will last another 10 seasons.
