The Camp Nou stadium, home to Spanish champion Barcelona, is getting an upgrade and the club has released images of the new design. Work is due to completed in the 2021/22 season. "The proposal stands out for being open, elegant, serene, timeless, Mediterranean and democratic," a club statement said.
The Camp Nou stadium, home to Spanish champion Barcelona, is getting an upgrade and the club has released images of the new design. Work is due to completed in the 2021/22 season. "The proposal stands out for being open, elegant, serene, timeless, Mediterranean and democratic," a club statement said.
FC Barcelona
Japanese firm Nikken Sekkei will work alongside Catalan studio Pascual i Ausió Arquitectes on the project, which will increase the Camp Nou capacity to 105,000. The club stipulated that every seat should have a "perfect" view of the pitch, and be sheltered from the elements.
Japanese firm Nikken Sekkei will work alongside Catalan studio Pascual i Ausió Arquitectes on the project, which will increase the Camp Nou capacity to 105,000. The club stipulated that every seat should have a "perfect" view of the pitch, and be sheltered from the elements.
Barcelona's star player, Argentina striker Lionel Messi, has scored 307 goals for Barcelona. He'll be 33 by the time the stadium is completed. Will he still be turning out in blue and red by then?
Barcelona's star player, Argentina striker Lionel Messi, has scored 307 goals for Barcelona. He'll be 33 by the time the stadium is completed. Will he still be turning out in blue and red by then?
David Ramos/Getty Images/file
The club statement went on: "In short, it is a unique solution, reproducing the characteristic vision of the grandstand and canopy, from the inside out, a silent and powerful tribute to the stadium built by Francesc Mitjans in 1957."
The club statement went on: "In short, it is a unique solution, reproducing the characteristic vision of the grandstand and canopy, from the inside out, a silent and powerful tribute to the stadium built by Francesc Mitjans in 1957."
FC Barcelona
Mitjans worked on the original design with Josep Soteras Mauri and Lorenzo García Barbón.<br />The original stadium cost 288 million Spanish pesetas which left the club in debt for years after. Its current capacity is 99,354.
Mitjans worked on the original design with Josep Soteras Mauri and Lorenzo García Barbón.
The original stadium cost 288 million Spanish pesetas which left the club in debt for years after. Its current capacity is 99,354.
Simon Bruty/Getty Images/file
The stadium has witnessed many a celebratory occasion, none more so than last season when the club won the treble, clinching the Spanish league title, the Spanish Cup and the European Champions League. This season Barca is eight points clear in La Liga already.
The stadium has witnessed many a celebratory occasion, none more so than last season when the club won the treble, clinching the Spanish league title, the Spanish Cup and the European Champions League. This season Barca is eight points clear in La Liga already.
David Ramos/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
The Camp Nou has a chapel next to the dressing rooms. Former manager Bobby Robson is pictured inside the chapel in 1996.
The Camp Nou has a chapel next to the dressing rooms. Former manager Bobby Robson is pictured inside the chapel in 1996.
Ben Radford/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
The Barcelona statement added: "It is also notable for its relationship with the environment, providing depth, creating shadows and making members the stars of the facade and of the open area at all times."
The Barcelona statement added: "It is also notable for its relationship with the environment, providing depth, creating shadows and making members the stars of the facade and of the open area at all times."
FC Barcelona
A new home for Messi

Story highlights

Barca signs partnership with Rakuten

One of world football's most lucrative deals

CNN  — 

Gerard Pique and his Barcelona teammates have regularly formed formidable partnerships on the pitch, but now the Spanish defender and popstar wife Shakira are forging an equally profitable relationship off it.

The power couple played a key role in the club’s new mega-money sponsorship deal with Rakuten, after going for dinner with the Japanese company’s chief executive, Hiroshi Mikitani, last year.

That meeting laid the foundations for what is now one of the most lucrative partnerships in the world of sport.

“Gerard Pique and Shakira are very close friends with Mr Mikitani,” Josep Maria Bartomeu, Barcelona club president, told reporters.

“It was in the summer of 2015, Gerard organized a dinner in San Francisco during our summer tour. At that dinner we met Mr Mikitani, who was, for us, an incredible person.”

The new four-year deal will see Rakuten, an online shopping company, replace Qatar Airways as the club’s main shirt sponsor in a deal worth €55 million ($59 million) a year.

Beginning at the start of the 2017/18 season, it will see Barcelona earn a basic €220 million ($236 million) and an additional €1.5 million each time it wins La Liga and €5 million each time it wins the Champions League.

Up until 2006, when it agreed a deal with UNICEF, Barcelona shirts were iconic for not featuring any sponsors.

The deal with Rakuten includes an option to extend the partnership into a fifth year, while the club also agreed deals for Turkish electronics brand Beko to appear on the shirt sleeves and US manufacturer Intel on the inside of its shirts.

Pique and Shakira set up a meeting with Rakuten chief executive Hiroshi Mikitani.
Pique and Shakira set up a meeting with Rakuten chief executive Hiroshi Mikitani.
David Ramos/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images

“This agreement puts us at the forefront of sports club sponsorships, which has always been an objective for the current board of directors,” Bartomeu added.

Barcelona shirts before and after the 2006 UNICEF sponsorship.
Barcelona shirts before and after the 2006 UNICEF sponsorship.

“We hope this partnership between Rakuten and FC Barcelona brings unparalleled sporting and commercial success, and helps the club achieve its goal of being a reference point worldwide.”

For comparison, Manchester United earns ￡47 million ($58.5 million) annually from its seven-year deal with Chevrolet.

Barcelona hopes the deal with Rakuten – which owns J-League football team Vissel Kobe and baseball club Tohoku Rakuten – will help it topple Real Madrid at the top of the money leagues.

This year, Forbes ranked Real Madrid as the world’s most valuable football team and Barcelona as the second, while Deloitte also had the Spanish rivals in the same order.

The money will also go towards funding Barcelona’s new 105,000-seater stadium.