FC Barcelona have this afternoon in an event held at Auditorium 1899, announced a mega sponsorship deal between the club and Japanese company Rakuten which is set to replace Qatar Airways as their main global sponsors from 2017/2018 season.
The deal in effect means, among other things Rakuten will appear on the front of the first team's jersey for the next 4 seasons starting 1 July 2017.
FC Barcelona president, Josep Bartomeu revealed that this agreement started at a dinner in 2015 which was organized by Gerard Pique who happens to be a very good friend of Mikitani ( president of Rakuten).
Manel Arroyo (vice president of Rakuten) explained the terms of the deal: "The deal has a baseline of 55M/year with bonuses of 1.5M for winning the league and 5M for winning the Champions League.
"As part of this deal Rakuten's brand will be visible on the stadium's façade, on member's cards and tickets, access to the players."
"The first team will play a game in Japan during the time of this agreement."
He however clarified that: "The training shirt, the academy shirts and the women's team shirt will not be part of this agreement."
Rakuten is an electronic Commerce & Internet Company based in Tokyo, Japan. Rakuten is a dynamic global company leading the way in e-commerce, communications, digital content and Fin Tech services for consumers and businesses around the world.
Statements by Josep Maria Bartomeu, President of FC Barcelona
"We are delighted with our agreement with Rakuten, a global brand in innovation whose experience and know-how in the fields of big data, communications and e-commerce will contribute to the future success of FC Barcelona”.
“This agreement puts us at the forefront of sports club sponsorships, which has always been an objective for the current Board of Directors. We hope this partnership between Rakuten and FC Barcelona brings unparalleled sporting and commercial success, and helps the club achieve its goal of being a reference point worldwide".
Statements by Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO of Rakuten Inc.:
“This partnership opportunity is set to power our global brand strategy and, more importantly, as the Global Innovation and Entertainment Partner, we are looking to bring the collective power of our brands like Viber, Wuaki, Ebates, Kobo, PriceMinister to build a cool innovation framework that will deliver innovative solutions and services to fans, members and players”.
“I am very excited about joining the Barça community as I have personally followed the team for decades and have long admired their unique playing style and professionalism, their commitment to success and their culture of nurturing young talent – all values we share at Rakuten”.
Story by Daraja Mutari/ghanaguardian.com
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