Barcelona are going to face Real Madrid in the season’s first El Clásico this weekend at the raucous Santiago Bernabeu.
And their new jersey sponsors, music streaming giants Spotify, have decided to make the kit a memorable one through one of the coolest collabs in football.
Aubrey Drake Graham, or simply ‘Drake’, the 4-time Grammy-winning Canadian artist has become the first singer to achieve a mind-boggling 50 billion streams of his songs on Spotify.
And as a tribute, Barca are going to be wearing a special jersey to commemorate this occasion with the logo of Drake’s label, OVO, which is a silhouette of an owl.
The news was shared via the club’s official website. They will also be donning special training tops in the capital city, with “Drake” & the number “50” being printed on them, along with the Spotify logo.
On March 15th 2022, Barcelona announced a much-needed deal with Spotify becoming the club’s primary sponsor for the upcoming four seasons. President Joan Laporta ratified the agreement worth over €280 million.
This move also gave the music streaming service the naming rights to their stadium, which subsequently was changed to Spotify Camp Nou. The branding of the club’s main shirts, training gear and the women’s team were a few of the known perks to have been agreed upon.
But this isn’t the first time musicians have collaborated with football clubs to find their marques on a club’s merchandise. Here are 4 other kit collabs with musical artists that just made sense –
Ajax, the Dutch champions, are known for the eye-catching designs on their jerseys. And in the 2021/2022 season, they took it to another level.
Adidas took inspiration from the Jamaican Bob Marley and dropped a dope 3rd kit for the world to drool over.
The Rolling Stones, England’s most famous rock band, found themselves on moped helmets, sneakers, skateboards and football shirts in France. The collab with Paris Saint-Germain was a massive hit and caught a lot of eyes.
In the far west, Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer paid tribute to their very own American and world-famous guitarist, Jimi Hendrix.
Adidas once again managed to create a masterpiece with “Hendrix’s love for colour & psychedelic patterns” with a purple, orange & yellow jersey for the 2021-2022 season.
In the Premier League, the East London club West Ham teamed up with none other than their local superstar, Steve Harris of the heavy metal band, Iron Maiden.
They mesmerised fans all over the world with an away shirt and training sets, announcing Steve’s long-time support for the club.
Spotify provided a huge economic boost to Barcelona, at a time when the Catalan club was in dire straits. They pulled them out of a hole dug by the previous management and ended up making one of the richest deals in football history.
There have been talks which denote many artists, like Drake, will be featured on the jerseys of the team as and when significant events occur. From the club’s point of view, they got to sign and register players in a busy summer transfer window.
“This partnership will allow us to continue to bring the club closer to its fans and make them feel, even more, part of the Barca family through unique experiences, combining two activities such as entertainment and football, making it possible for us to connect with new audiences around the world,” said Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
For the sake of Laporta, we hope this brings tangible results on the field as well.
