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The president of the Spanish champions club "Barcelona" Juan Laporta stated that the decision has been made not to break the club's traditions and continue not to put commercial ads on the team's jerseys. To many website visitors, the Catalan team's fans are better known as Zebedee, the online nickname of the author of the article "The Tribune", decided to explain the whole "clean" jersey history of Barcelona in more detail.
Just over a year ago, Barcelona president Joan Laporta announced that there was a 90 percent chance that the club would start a new phase of commercialization. This, as everyone understood, was about the appearance of a title sponsor. Such a sponsor usually pays between 50-100 million dollars over three or five years for the right to print their company name on the team's jerseys. More than 100 million euros are earned by the most famous European clubs from sponsors, such as Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, Inter, or Bayern.
However, Barcelona stands out from all clubs not only for its beautiful game but also because in its 107-year history, the blaugrana jerseys have never been touched by any ads. After Laporta's statement, rumors started circulating about a future inscription on the blaugrana jersey. Some sports analysts and business analysts pointed fingers at Asian electronics giants, while others suggested Arab airlines or American car manufacturers looking for markets in Europe and Asia. However, true Barca fans were not concerned about these rumors. Their opinion was unanimous: "Barca is more than a club". The Catalan superclub is too good and has such traditions that there is no place for ads on their jerseys.
However, there was still a hint of advertising.
But fans forget that in 1992, the then infamous and disgraced president of the club, Josep Lluis Nunez, succumbed to the temptation of considerable money in the football world fourteen years ago. At that time, the Italian sportswear company KAPPA offered 9 million for its logo on the jerseys. However, Nunez refused. But he succumbed to Kappa's offer of 6 million dollars to draw a white horizontal stripe on the blaugrana jerseys. No logo, no Kappa logo - just a white stripe...
"I didn't want to be remembered as the first president in Barca's history to put the company's ad on the team's jerseys," Nunez justified his actions. However, like many of Nunez's initiatives, the plan ended in a complete fiasco. The president did not take into account one "detail": white is the "royal", eternal color of their arch-rivals and competitors Real Madrid. Because of that white stripe, there was such an uproar that the Barca management unilaterally terminated the contract with Kappa and paid the company a penalty fee...
2006 was supposed to be the last.
Now you already understand what protests erupted when Laporta announced negotiations with a company about ads. Some even explain that the doubling of Barca jersey sales this season is not so much about the team's excellent game as it is about the fans' desire to have "clean" Barcelona jerseys without ads. Especially since the new team uniform presented for the 2006/2007 season is even more pessimistic. The blue and garnet stripes on the jerseys will be replaced by a design similar to FC Basel: the jerseys will be only in two parts - half blue, half garnet. The away uniform is even more faded. Someone came up with the idea of producing a retro uniform... dirty orange jerseys (with which Barca won the Champions League in 1994, but immediately after the match, the players threw the orange jerseys on the field and changed into blaugrana).
If this season's hysterical yellow jerseys became the last fashion whim and even more were sold than the traditional blaugrana jerseys, then when the players saw those orange jerseys, which they have to be diplomatic about, they simply shrugged and refrained from commenting, focusing only on the game...
So, if you already understand that blaugrana means much more to Barcelona and its fans than just shorts and jerseys, we can now talk about the temptations that Laporta and other club officials were tempted with.
1. Asian electronics giant HITACHI offered 13 million euros per year and an additional 3-4 million in bonuses if the team performed well in international competitions. The contract was supposed to last for 5 years. In addition, Hitachi enticed the Catalan club with annual tours organized in Asia, which would have allowed the club to easily earn 5 million dollars in two weeks during the summers. Hitachi executives, seeing the overflowing crowds of Ronaldinho and co. coming to watch in Asia, offered Barca 8 million dollars per year. Instead of a response, they heard a sigh. The persistent Japanese offered 10 million and after hearing a dismissive "no" - 13 million. Then they added the mentioned bonuses, and the company designers guaranteed that the inscription would be made so that it harmoniously matched the blaugrana jerseys...
2. A bigger tempter was the bookmaker firm "Betandwin" registered in Austria. This online sports betting company offered 15 million euros per year. Then they started tempting with a lengthy, even 8-year contract. When Laporta announced that over such time "Barca" would be worth more money, the wealthy bookmakers agreed to review the contract every two years and increase the amount. However, even so, the "Barca" management was not tempted by at least 120 million (and with bonuses and reviewed contracts, the amount would be more than 150 million). There were several important reasons for this: first of all, in Spain, gambling advertising is prohibited, and it is still unclear how the authorities would look at such advertising. And perhaps even more important - "Betandwin" wanted the logo on the jerseys to be unchangeable. And that is the company name in black letters... on a white background. If you remember what happened when Barca "adorned" themselves with a white stripe, you can understand that Laporta could not put a large white rectangle on the Barca jerseys. And - on the chest, below the Barca crest... After all - presidential elections at Barcelona will take place in a year... Laporta's heart was conquered by the fact that the Catalans would feel financial distress.
3. Less known are the negotiations with "Qatar Airways Tower". The Arab airline offered a "regular" €12 million contract, which was supposed to last for 4 years. QAT manager Al Chaedi, when asked why the Arab airline was interested in the Catalan football club, replied: "We fly above the clouds, and Barca plays heavenly football. We are next to each other". 12 million per year - not too little to laugh at such an amount, nor too much to ponder for a long time because of it. Understanding that the most powerful clubs in the world are vying for the huge markets in Asia, especially China, Barcelona is no exception. If Real Madrid bought a club in China, then Barca established a children's sports school. And Tianjin is the largest Barcelona fan club in the world. However, conquering China for Barca will probably require other means. If not with Beckhams, then with good play. Especially since the failed Real Madrid marketing campaign already proved that the wealthy Chinese won't be enticed by original jerseys costing 30 euros - they can sew the same ones for 3 euros...
4. The most financially tempting company, at least according to the Barcelona management's apparent willingness to capitulate, was the offer from the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese government. Although the financial conditions were kept secret, it is speculated that the Chinese were willing to pay around 20-30 million euros annually for the inscription BEIJING and the Beijing Olympics logo. That kind of offer likely couldn't be resisted, even by the Dalai Lama (Buddha, forgive Zebedee for the insults). Moreover, the pill looked sweeter because it was not advertising a product, service, or commercial item, but a noble idea - the Olympic Games... China also offered annual tours with full stadiums, and billions of Chinese and the rest of the world would gladly buy Barca jerseys with Olympic symbols as souvenirs. Analysts have already calculated that more can be earned from merchandising than from direct sums for the ad inscription. It should not be forgotten that all the big clubs in the world, such as "Coca Cola", "Ford", and "Nike", have been sponsors of Barcelona for many years and not only are they not complaining about the collaboration, but they would like to expand it by becoming title sponsors. Each member of this triumvirate has endless money, a famous brand, excellent relations with Barca directors... and a desire to conquer new markets with the help of Barcelona and the company inscription on the blaugrana chest. Negotiations with "Nike" were especially active.
The arrogant Americans, who this year forced the legendary Madrid club "Atletico", which has been wearing red and white jerseys since 1903, to abandon tradition and play in a single-color uniform from the next season, were more lenient with Barcelona. "Nike", well aware of the Catalan way, even suggested that there wouldn't even have to be the company name on the blaugrana - just a bigger "Nike" smile. However, even such an offer did not lure the Barcelona club.
It seems that the hopes of the fans have come true - next season Barca will play with clean, ad-free jerseys.
And still - the only club in the world.
Because Barca is more than a club...
Why did Laporta refuse to easily earn a hundred million?
Well, if you haven't gotten tired of reading, I will briefly introduce you to the latest research by EAE Business School professor Jose Maria Gay on Barcelona's financial situation. For clarity, there will also be a comparison with the finances of Barca's closest rival, Arsenal:
In the 2005/2006 season, Barca made a profit of 36.7 million euros. Arsenal - 12.8 million. If Barca wins the Champions League, the club's budget this year could exceed 300 million euros. In the 2003/2004 season, Barcelona's revenues were 169 million, and Arsenal 173 million euros. Barca's profit that season was 1.4 million, while Arsenal had 12 million euros. In the 2004/2005 season, Barca already earned 207 million, while Arsenal had 171 million euros. Barca had a profit of 35.3 million euros, while Arsenal's profit dropped to 0.8 million.
However, like all the big clubs, both Barca and Arsenal are drowning in debts. While Laporta, by wisely investing, is reducing the debts incurred by previous presidents, Barcelona still owes 292.1 million euros. They need to repay 171 million within the next few years, and 121.1 million are provided as long-term loans. However, it should be noted that Barca's largest creditor is a bank in Catalonia, which will certainly not let the symbol of Catalonia feel financial distress.
Arsenal's financial situation was greatly worsened by the construction of a new stadium. The Gunners are already in debt of 512 million euros, of which 159 million are short-term loans with high interest rates, and 353 million euros will have to be repaid later.
