Spanish soccer's FC Barcelona has lost its protracted legal battle against global sportswear giants NIKE, meaning the cub must uphold its contract with its kit manufacturer through 2028.
In 2016, Barcelona renewed its long-standing kit supply deal with Nike in a then “world-record” deal through the end of the 2027-28 season.
The contract, worth €100 million ($112 million) per annum over its 10-year length (it began with the 2018-19 season), was to that point the most lucrative deal in soccer, but earlier this year the club had sought to terminate the deal over what it claimed were “breaches” in the contract.
Joan Laporta, Barcelona's president, stated on his podcast, El Podcast del President, that the club had informed Nike at one point that it was terminating the contract, to no avail.
Laporta had likely sought to pressure Nike into offering better terms more commensurate to his valuation of the club’s kit rights at a time when the club is cash-strapped but remains a commercial monster.
While that 2016 deal was a world record at the time, it has since been surpassed twice by German rival adidas’ contracts with Spanish rivals Real Madrid and English giants Manchester United.
Laporta now believes that an even greater figure than Real Madrid’s reported €120 million per year is possible, and is willing to cut the Nike partnership short four years by claiming contractual breaches to achieve that.
The Barcelona president said: “We told Nike that, based on some breaches that for us were flagrant, we were terminating the contract.
“They [Nike] had 45 days to compensate us, but they did not do it and we communicated that the contract was terminated, to which they responded with precautionary measures that we have responded to and now we are seeing the solution to these measures.”
Laporta added that while Nike has since looked to offer Barcelona an improved contract, the terms of such offers do not match what he believes the club could attain through offering the rights to produce its kit on the open market.
Now, however, with Barcelona instructed to honor the current Nike contract through 2028, Nike will have no incentive to offer Barcelona better terms until that deal is up, tying the club to a deal it does not want for the foreseeable.
Laporta had stressed on the podcast: “We are open to everything, but we cannot have a contract much lower than what the market pays. It is our responsibility as executive directors of the club to secure the best contract.”
Nike has been the exclusive kit partner of Barcelona since 1998, being partnered with the club through a period of major domestic and European success across multiple renewals.
Barcelona consistently ranks among the top sports teams globally in terms of annual jersey sales and as such the rights to produce kits for the club is an extremely lucrative prospect.
