Nike decision could see €1.5m of Barcelona’s money down the drain

Barcelona have agreed to sign a new deal with Nike this winter, extending their sponsorship agreement by an extra decade until 2038. However the first half of the year was spent exploring options with other brands.

The idea of potentially producing their own kits was also explored, with the Blaugrana manufacturing around 150,000 shirts. Radio Catalunya say that the shirts cost around €10 each to manufacture, but now the Catalan club are unsure what to do with them.

They need permission from Nike to be able to sell or even give them away to members, and thus their €1.5m investment is at serious risk. Nike are the only producer of official Barcelona kits, and understandably will want to protect that position, but if they do prevent Barcelona from using or releasing the kits, then it will be €1.5m wasted for Barcelona.

Naturally, an extra 150,000 Barcelona kits could have an impact on Nike sales of official kits. However it would be a terrible waste of money and resources at the same time.