Barca testing waters with Camp Nou sponsorship deal
The Catalan outfit will sell the stadium name to a sponsor and see how much money they can make by doing this.
Barcelona announced this Tuesday that it would sell the Camp Nou's name to a sponsor for a season to help in the fight against the coronavirus. A beautiful gesture, but something which is not unheard of in Spanish football.
However, Barca approved in the board meeting that they could sell the stadium name in the future and that this would serve as a test.
Curiously, Barcelona did something similar just over a decade ago. That was when they decided to wear Unicef on their shirts. That was the first time the club's shirt had a sponsor on it.
The reaction to the Unicef move was positive and more sponsors followed. Qatar Foundation, Qatar Airways and Rakuten. In this case, the Camp Nou's name will be altered for a good cause, but it will not be like that in the future.
At the moment, only Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid and Celta Vigo in La Liga plus Deportivo La Coruna in Segunda have their stadiums sponsored. Osasuna and Mallorca did do this in the past though.
Although Barca and Real Madrid have still not had their stadia renamed, 'AS', reminds us that it is quite common across Europe with the likes of Arsenal, Man City and Bayern Munich.