Quote (B4al @ Nov 16 2016 07:42pm)
Rakuten becomes Barcelona's main sponsor in a deal worth up to £53m-a-year
La Liga giants end their current agreement with Qatar Airways at the end of the season.
The four-year-deal puts Barcelona at same financial level of Manchester United's deal with Chevrolet.
Rakuten is set to replace Qatar Airways as Barcelona's main sponsor after the La Liga giants have announced a four-year agreement with the Japanese company to start at the beginning of the 2017-2018. The deal could worth up to €61.5m (£53m, $65.9m) a-season, almost the same as the previous record deal between Manchester United and Chevrolet and beating Chelsea's current deal with Yokohama.
Barcelona is reportedly currently receiving around €30m from Qatar Airways after, in the summer, the club announced an agreement to extend their previous deal with the airline until June 217.
Qatar Airways themselves, Amazon, Huawei or Alibaba.com have since emerged as candidates to the sponsor. However, during a press conference on (16 November) Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed that Rakuten has finally been the chosen one after the club have agreed a four-year-deal worth €55m plus futher €6.5m in add-ons with the Japanese electronic commerce and internet company .
"FC Barcelona and Rakuten Inc., a dynamic global company leading the way in e-commerce, communications, digital content and FinTech services for consumers and businesses around the world, have reached an agreement for the Japanese company to become the main global sponsor of the Club and to appear on the front of the first team's jersey for the next four seasons, beginning in 2017/18," the club have confirmed.
Money coming our way heh
You'll need it. Lots of it
