Rakuten Backs FC Barcelona For One More Season

Japanese ecommerce leader Rakuten has renewed its shirt sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona for the 2021/2022 season.

The  present deal worth US$64m annually and signed in 2016, was due to expire at the end of the current La Liga season, but FC Barcelona have exercised an option to extend it by a year. 

This means that Tokyo-based Rakuten will remain as FC Barcelona’s main sponsor and global innovation and entertainment partner until 30th June 2022, with its logo continuing to appear on the front of the team’s match shirts.

The deal is a rare reprieve and comes at a time when the Spanish football giants are battling the uncertainty of the pandemic, an off-field leadership crisis and lacklustre performances on the pitch. Obviously, the assets included in the extension will be ‘optimised’ for the circumstances of the post-pandemic era.  

Despite local media reports that Rakuten was seeking to continue its deal at a lower price, it has been unclear if the value of the main shirt sponsorship has changed under the extension.