For the next few weeks, one of the tasks that FC Barcelona will have to focus their energies upon is that of generating income that will help them balance their books and thus meet the objective of getting back to the 1:1 rule regarding their fair play.
In this regard, one of the operations that the Catalans are working upon is negotiating with their main sponsor 1998, Nike.
Relations between the two parties were far from the best in the last few months, as Barcelona also undertook negotiations with Puma. The latter organization had made a very powerful offer to replace Nike at Barcelona. Meanwhile, the Blaugranes had also worked to assess the viability of manufacturing and marketing their own clothing brand.
However, the Catalans were forced to reunite with Nike as a court ruled that Barcelona would have to continue working with them as they had a contract till 2028, and they could not sign a contract with another brand or even manufacture their own clothing.
But, luckily, Nike understood that the Blaugrana club needed a better agreement, and thus made an offer of a contract for the next ten years with a renewal bonus of €150 million, and an annual fixed rate that can surpass €100 million.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona believe that an agreement for this new contract is not far now, but some issues are yet to be solved. Nike also believes that significant progress has been made in this regard, and the negotiations are more advanced than they were some weeks ago.
Nike’s Vice President in Europe, Nicholas Barthes, met Laporta after the Women’s Champions League final in San Mames, but a final agreement is expected to be arrived at only this Thursday when the next board meeting is scheduled.
If the Catalans are able to finalize this deal in the coming days, it would be a significant boost for them ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window as it would help them get back to the 1:1 rule, and remove a significant handicap that has kept the Catalans from strengthening their team.
