"More than a club" no more?

[Part/Time Supporter]

Barcelona have ended their 111-year history of refusing commercial shirt sponsorship by signing a record £125m deal with the Qatar Foundation. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/9276343.stm)

I wonder if magpie1892 has an opinion on this.

:stirrer:

Probably not unconnected to this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8859257.stm). I wonder whether the unicef deal was something a softening up exercise, ie it would have been a bigger deal if they had gone straight from no third party on their shirt to full sponsorship (by a foreign organisation).

[Keith_M]

How can they still bid 33M for players, if they're so much in debt? Doesn't seem right, somehow.

Barca and Real are the biggest clubs by a long way in Spain but both owe hundreds of millions. Neither have had this forced on them via leveraged buyouts, or other dodgy American shenanigans, so to me it's seems like unfair competition.

[Part/Time Supporter]

The Qatar Foundation is a non-profit organisation which has projects focusing on education, scientific research and community development. It was founded by Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in 1995.

Its involvement in Barcelona is another sign of Qatar's growing commitment to football and follows on from FIFA's decision to award the 2022 World Cup to the emirate.

:wink:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/barcelona-ditch-unicef-for-huge-sponsorship-deal-2156427.html

It seems to have a number of partnerships with prestigious US universities (Georgetown, Northwestern, Cornell).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_Foundation


How can they still bid 33M for players, if they're so much in debt? Doesn't seem right, somehow.

Barca and Real are the biggest clubs by a long way in Spain but both owe hundreds of millions. Neither have had this forced on them via leveraged buyouts, or other dodgy American shenanigans, so to me it's seems like unfair competition.

Some parallel to the big banks (ironically, given that their largesse is funded by big Spanish banks) in that they're too big to fail. HBOS / Bank of Scotland took a somewhat similar attitude to the Huns, but that was modified after it was subsumed by Lloyds and the state.

[MWHIBBIES]

There just chelsea with a youth system.

[ScottB]

Barcelona have ended their 111-year history of refusing commercial shirt sponsorship by signing a record £125m deal with the Qatar Foundation. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/9276343.stm)

I wonder if magpie1892 has an opinion on this.

:stirrer:

Probably not unconnected to this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8859257.stm). I wonder whether the unicef deal was something a softening up exercise, ie it would have been a bigger deal if they had gone straight from no third party on their shirt to full sponsorship (by a foreign organisation).

And? Unicef will remain on the shirts, and this company claims to be a not for profit, charity organisation.

The club is massively in debt, so why shouldn't it do this? Had they refused and went seeking for a government bail out no doubt folk would be on here bitching about that.

[LancashireHibby]

And? Unicef will remain on the shirts, and this company claims to be a not for profit, charity organisation.

Well they're not going to make much profit when they're throwing £25m a year at shirt sponsorship:wink:

[Woody1985]

Barcelona have ended their 111-year history of refusing commercial shirt sponsorship by signing a record £125m deal with the Qatar Foundation. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/9276343.stm)

I wonder if magpie1892 has an opinion on this.

:stirrer:

Probably not unconnected to this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8859257.stm). I wonder whether the unicef deal was something a softening up exercise, ie it would have been a bigger deal if they had gone straight from no third party on their shirt to full sponsorship (by a foreign organisation).

It was always seen as a means to an end. I.e. to get a paid sponsor.

Can't see it doing much for Qatar football though unless retiring players go there for a final pay day.

[Part/Time Supporter]

The Mes Que Un Club Motto isn't connected to sponsership or the lack of it.

Then why do they mention the unicef partnership in their own website page about the motto?



MORE THAN A CLUB

The slogan “more than a club” is open-ended in meaning.

It is perhaps this flexibility that makes it so appropriate for defining the complexities of FC Barcelona’s identity, a club that competes in a sporting sense on the field of play, but that also beats, every day, to the rhythm of its people’s concerns.

FC Barcelona is “more than a club” in Catalonia because it is the sports club that most represents the country and is also one of its greatest ambassadors. Also, for different reasons, FC Barcelona is “more than a club” for many people living elsewhere in Spain, who see Barça as a staunch defender of democratic rights and freedom.

Today, football has become a global phenomenon, and support for Barcelona has spread spectacularly around the world. The number of club members from outside of Catalonia and Spain is increasing daily, and the club wants to respond to that show of passion for Barça. This has developed into a need and an obligation. And the best way for the club to do that has been to take a step further and become “more than a club around the world” as well. This Barça that is so concerned for its people needs to be globalised. This caring and humanitarian Barça needs to be globalised. It is a strategic decision that is in keeping with the club’s history and the way that football is continuing to develop on a worldwide basis.

That is why the club has decided to contribute 0.7 per cent of its ordinary income to the FC Barcelona Foundation in order to set up international cooperation programmes for development, supports the UN Millennium Development Goals and has made a commitment to Unicef’s humanitarian aid programs through the donation of one and a half million euros for the next five years and now wears the Unicef logo on its shirts. An agreement that has made Barça unique.


Well, never mind that it wasn't unique while Villa had Acorns on their shirt. (http://www.acorns.org.uk/about-us-home/aston-villa-acorns-in-partnership)

:greengrin

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/club/club_avui/mes_que_un_club/mesqueunclub.html

Its also obvious from this statement that their former president Laporta saw it as a key part of this identity.


The general assembly of delegate members of August 2003 authorized the Board of Directors to negotiate for a shirt sponsorship deal. The economic situation we were in when we arrived at the club obliged us to look into all the possible options available.

Fortunately, thanks to everyone’s hard work, the good economic development of the last years, sporting success, and the renewed passion of Barça fans, today the economic resource of a shirt sponsorship deal is no longer as necessary. A few months ago, the board initiated a process of internal evaluation of what the best option for shirt sponsorship deals would be.

This debate led us to agree to a different objective that would make FC Barcelona 'more than a club' in the world. The conclusion was that we had to put our greatest asset, our shirt, at the service of this ambitious project.


http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/web/Fundacio/english/nacions_unides/convenis/unicef/continguts/carta_laporta.html

[Pretty Boy]

Whilst i'm not particularly happy about this i can understand the need given the serious mismanagement of the LaPorta years.

If people read the article fully they will see that marketing designers are looking at a way to fit both the Qatar Foundation and the Unicef logo on the shirt but if it's not possible the Unicef logo takes priority and as far as i'm aware Barca will be continuing to donate a significant sum to Unicef each year.

The 'Mes Que un club' slogan was never anything to do with the way the club was run, sponsorship etc. It was used due to FC Barcelonas role in the fight for Catalan independence and the role the club played in resistance against the Franco dictatorship. The club is also well regarded throughout Spain as being a supporter of 'democratic rights'.

As for the poster who compared Barcelona to Chelsea- Behave.

[camhibby1]

Well they're not going to make much profit when they're throwing £25m a year at shirt sponsorship:wink:

£125 million - not even a week's oil revenues!

[MWHIBBIES]

Whilst i'm not particularly happy about this i can understand the need given the serious mismanagement of the LaPorta years.

If people read the article fully they will see that marketing designers are looking at a way to fit both the Qatar Foundation and the Unicef logo on the shirt but if it's not possible the Unicef logo takes priority and as far as i'm aware Barca will be continuing to donate a significant sum to Unicef each year.

The 'Mes Que un club' slogan was never anything to do with the way the club was run, sponsorship etc. It was used due to FC Barcelonas role in the fight for Catalan independence and the role the club played in resistance against the Franco dictatorship. The club is also well regarded throughout Spain as being a supporter of 'democratic rights'.

As for the poster who compared Barcelona to Chelsea- Behave.I did'nt mean it as a comparison to there history and importance i just meant it as in they tap up players(fabregas thing in summer)and spend massive amounts of money to get sucsess.

[Sir David Gray]

Finally we can see that Barcelona is just like any other modern day football club, i.e. finances rule the day.

Whilst their attitude towards Unicef is admirable, I can't help but think that they are completely selling out by signing this massive commercial deal.

Hopefully this news will finally put to bed all the nonsense that has been spouted about Barcelona being some kind of morally superior club as we now know that they are no different to any other big football club that has major debt problems.

Maybe if they hadn't spent about £100 million on David Villa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the past couple of years, they wouldn't be in such a mess.

Apart from anything else, I am shocked that they have accepted sponsorship from an organisation that has links to the Qatari Royal Family, when their beliefs on a wide range of subjects are completely at odds with Barcelona's supposed left-wing ideology.

[Randerson_4]

Seems to be all about clearing up miss-management of previous chairman

I think it's shocking what Barca & Real get away with. I'll acknowledge that they are given money in advance on the basis they can recoup it over the years of a contract (Beckham, Ronaldo). However, the stories I've read which say that Real are effectively run by the Spanish Banks is a joke.

[McKenzie]

I did'nt mean it as a comparison to there history and importance i just meant it as in they tap up players(fabregas thing in summer)and spend massive amounts of money to get sucsess.
they have brought through most of their own players that play in the starting eleven :confused:

[The Beastie Bus]

£125 mill! that's serious sponsorship funding!

Anyway, the interesting part for me will be how the marketing / designer displays both sponsors names on the strip. I appreciate UNICEF will remain the prominent logo, however when you stump up that amount of dosh, you want your name to stand out. Fascinating, as it may be the way forward for dual sponsorship on the jersey.

[MWHIBBIES]

they have brought through most of their own players that play in the starting eleven :confused:Yes but that doesn't hide the fact that they spend just as much as anyone else in recent years except maybe Real.

[steviecarnie]

I dunno how connected this is, but im sure the guy who used to be head of youth development at barca, has now moved and setup his own academy in Qatar.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Ach Barcelona have just done what any business should do I.E. maximize their potential income.

Its good to know that they are just another part of the insanity which pervades European football these days and will lead to an eventual financial melt down amoungst the so called elite clubs.

I live for the day that a Real Madrid or Man Utd goes tits up. Perhaps it will bring football to its senses.

[Dashing Bob S]

Sad about this. Had a lot of affection for this club and often made the point of trying to get to the Nou Camp when I was in Spain on business. They were last big football to hold up the standard of decency. Now they're just another corporation. Viva Real Barca.

[Pretty Boy]

Yes but that doesn't hide the fact that they spend just as much as anyone else in recent years except maybe Real.

Theres no 'maybe' about it.

The squad Barcelona had in the recent el clasico cost 130M Euros to assemble, the squad Real Madrid had cost 390M Euros. Not even close in terms of cost.

[MWHIBBIES]

Theres no 'maybe' about it.

The squad Barcelona had in the recent el clasico cost 130M Euros to assemble, the squad Real Madrid had cost 390M Euros. Not even close in terms of cost.Do not just look at the squad for that one game.What about players like Hleb(13m)Ibrahimovic(39m)Dmytro Chygrynskiy(21m)Keirrson(12m)Caceres(16.5m)Henriqu e(10m)Gabriel Milito(15m)that people never mention that have all been signed in the last 3 years.