By Mark Baber
July 1 – FC Barcelona has secured a four-year sponsorship with global home appliance group Arcelik, who will become the club’s worldwide sponsorship partner for the next four years. The deal will see the new logo of the group’s Beko brand featured on the sleeve of the new team jersey and training kit.
Josep Maria Bartomeu, president of FC Barcelona commented that “This alliance with Beko and the Arçelik Group of Koç Holding is especially pleasing for us. As I said before, we know that Barça are very well loved and admired in Turkey and we estimate we have about 10 million fans there and are the country’s most popular Club. These are loyal supporters, who recognise our singular nature and know that we are “more than a Club”. For Barça, that is as important as our sporting success.”
Javier Faus, first vice president Economic and Strategic Area said that the deal would make Arcelik “the third most important Barça sponsor after Nike and Qatar Airways.”
Beko will become the first commercial brand to benefit from a permanent presence on the official team jersey’s sleeve.
“The most important part of the agreement is that it includes the logo on the shirt for league, cup, friendly and tour matches. For the first time since TV3, FC Barcelona has decided to include the logo on the first team shirtsleeve. The logo will also be on the back of the shirt during training sessions and pre-match warm-ups,” said Faus.
The head of Arcelik, Mustafa Koç, said: “Today is the start of what I am sure will be a long and mutually rewarding relationship between Beko and FC Barcelona, because both brands have so many shared values, inspirations and beliefs.”
Beko is the second largest brand in Europe and the EMEA region in the white goods sector and the leader in the UK and Poland. Arcelik’s other brands include Grundig, Altus, Blomberg, Arctic, Defy, Leisure, Arstil, Elektra Bregenz and Flavel. The company used to sponsor Watford FC in England’s Championship, but its main sporting sponsorships have previously been in basketball.
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