Ferran Reverter has resigned from his post as Barcelona F.C. CEO just days after the club agreed a £250 million sponsorship deal with Spotify.
Since taking over the position in July Reverter had been seen as a key member of President Laporta’s management team, as Barcelona looked to restructure their finances and manage the club’s €1.35 billion debt.
Reverter had played a fundamental role in negotiations with the Swedish company, but he was unsatisfied with the final terms of the deal, many of which had been revised at the last minute according to reports. The agreement with Spotify was seen as the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The agreement with the music platform is understood to be for three years, with the men’s and women’s teams carrying the company’s logo on their shirts. Spotify would also become the first company to sponsor the club’s Camp Nou stadium.
The deal would come into effect this Summer when Barcelona’s contracts with their primary sponsor, Rakuten, and secondary sponsor, Beko, end. Blockchain Layer-1 platform, Polkadot, are rumored to become the secondary sponsor and feature on the sleeve of Barca’s shirts starting next season.
An official announcement is expected on Tuesday, sources said.
Barcelona made no mention of the sponsorship deal in their statement regarding Reverter’s decision.
“Given the decision by the CEO, the president and his Board of Directors wish to publicly express their gratitude to Ferran Reverter for his commitment and good work as head of the FC Barcelona executive during this time,” the club said.
Nevertheless, the departure of the executive, who previously worked for the retail group MediaMarkt, is a blow to Laporta and his board’s efforts to get Barcelona’s finances back on track. These same financial issues played a key part in Barcelona’s inability to keep Lionel Messi at the club before his eventual move to Paris Saint-Germain in August.
If the deal is closed successfully it could make for some positive news for the streaming platform. Spotify is in the middle of a controversy after the musician Neil Young asked for the removal of his catalogue from the platform because of the continued presence of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast which signed an exclusive partnership in 2020 with Spotify worth more than $100 million.