Barcelona's shirt sponsor from the 2017/18 season onwards will be Japanese commerce website Rakuten after agreeing a 60 million euro per season deal. Replacing Qatar Airways, the world's third-largest retailer has been chosen over major rivals Amazon and China's Alibaba, who were rumoured to be in the mix for the Blaugrana contract. Mundo Deportivo have confirmed that the deal was ratified by the board on Wednesday before an official ceremony at the Camp Nou in the afternoon, after which the club must gain their member's assembly approval before the end of the calendar year. Signed up until 2021, Rakuten are an unheard of entity for the most part in Europe and will no doubt be looking to expand their operations having been founded in 1997. Company founder Hiroshi Mikitani is said to be worth around 8.7 billion US dollars while the retailer has investments across the globe that include Pinterest and Spanish TV service Wuaki.tv.Barcelona for another season after the two parties were able to come to an agreement, but the Catalan club's delay in committing to the deal has cost them €25 million.
According to the Blaugrana's announcement, the 2016/17 sponsorship will follow the same conditions as last season, which totals a payment of €35m. Yet director Javier Faus had come to an agreement with the airline at the end of last season to renew for €60m, a contract which was never signed given Barcelona's hesitation over extending the partnership. Having then considered other options, the La Liga champions ultimately opted for a further year of wearing the Arab brand on the front of their shirts, although this deal allows greater flexibility regarding future sponsorships. At the moment, it seems that Amazon is the frontrunner to become the team's main sponsor from 2017/18.
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