Barcelona to sell stadium naming rights for virus funds

ANKARA

Spanish football powerhouse Barcelona will give a sponsor naming rights to the Camp Nou stadium for the first time to raise funds for the fight against coronavirus, the club announced on Tuesday.

In a statement, the club said its board of directors has “approved the ceding of the title rights to Camp Nou for the season 2020-2021 to the Barca Foundation to raise money to invest in research projects being carried out in Catalonia and the rest of the world involved in the fight against the effects of COVID-19.”

The foundation will now look for a sponsor who will be able to rename the Camp Nou stadium for one season – the first time in the iconic venue’s over six-decade history.

Camp Nou, which has a capacity of nearly 99,000, has been Barcelona’s home since 1957.

Commercializing stadium names through sponsorship deals has been a rising trend worldwide in recent years as it allows clubs to generate extra revenue.

Europe, along with the U.S., is the hardest-hit area in the world in the coronavirus pandemic.

Spain has the highest number of cases – over 204,100 – on the continent and its death toll of more than 21,200 is behind only the U.S. and Italy.

More than 2.5 million cases have been reported in 185 countries and regions since the virus emerged in China last December, with the death toll close to 172,000 and nearly 660,000 recoveries, according to data compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.