Barcelona Selling Camp Nou’s Name to Raise Money for COVID-19 Battle

For the first time in its history, Barcelona’s stadium, Camp Nou, will change its name. The board of the Spanish powerhouse decided to sell the naming rights to the sponsors, and to donate all the revenue from it to COVID-19 fight.

Barca decided to do this after a tragedy that struck Spain in which more than 20,000 lives were taken away by the virus. Not only that, but the consequences of this disease will be present for a long time, and they, for sure, would create plenty of problems for ordinary people.

The management of the club gave all the rights regarding the future sponsorship deal to the Barca Foundation, who will be in charge of the negotiations and the process of donation, which comes afterward.

Barcelona have today announced they are selling the naming rights of the Camp Nou for one season to the Barça Foundation 🏟️

The money raised by doing so will help fund research in the fight against coronavirus 🔴🔵

Amazing gesture from La Blaugrana 👏 pic.twitter.com/p4GCKr7h5t

— Football Index (@FootballIndex) April 21, 2020

“FC Barcelona and the Barca Foundation consider it a necessity that at this time of humanitarian crisis, the institution should use all its resources to fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences,” wrote in the statement released by the club.

Since 1957, and the opening of Camp Nou, the stadium never changed its name. Barcelona is one of the rare clubs who never wanted to pick money over a tradition, but apparently, they decided to change this for a higher reason. The club didn’t have a shirt sponsor until 2011. In the years before that, they were wearing the UNICEF logo for free, trying once again, to set a positive example and show that there is more than business in this game.

Barcelona’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu stated earlier that the COVID-19 crisis would no doubt hurt the transfer market and that he expects to see problems with liquidity among the majority of the clubs. At first, once this news broke out, it appeared that Blaugrana might sell the name to gather the revenue for the upcoming transfer window. However, that is not the case here.

In order to do so, the club will try to sell several players who are not in the plans of the head coach Quique Setien. Two names are topping the list, Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele.

The Brazilian is one of the biggest disappointments in Barca’s recent history, and after paying more than $160 million to Liverpool, they are willing to accept bids around $50 or $60 million in order to raise money for Neymar or Lautaro Martinez.

As for Dembele, he came to Camp Nou as one of the most prominent talents in the world and was expected to evolve into a decent replacement for Lionel Messi. Yet, the French winger’s improvement was not only slowed down but was stopped completely. Still, Barca can get some money for him, as there are plenty of clubs on the market who are willing to give him one more chance to showcase his potential.

When mentioning Neymar, there were some speculations that Barca and PSG could make a swap which would see the Spaniards adding some cash on top. The Saints are keen on seeing Antoine Griezmann in their uniform, and they are willing to send Neymar back to Barca if they receive some cash along with the forward too. According to many, this is a realistic scenario that only waits the end of the season before being completed.