⚽️ Barcelona starts acting like a streetwear brand

At PWR House, we see sports teams evolving into full-blown media & entertainment brands that want to do more than just play the game.

For example — today FC Barcelona dropped a limited edition jersey with musician Travis Scott. Only 1899 jerseys were released and predictably, they all sold out instantly.

The jersey features Travis’ “Cactus Jack” logo, the same one featured on all the insanely hyped sneakers he releases with Nike.

This is part of a broader collaboration between Travis Scott and Barcelona leading up to the El Clásico on May 11. Travis Scott will be performing for the first time in Barcelona on May 10th and then the entire team will be wearing their Travis Scott jerseys on May 11.

A lot of this comes down to Spotify, who signed a multi-year $308 Million sponsorship deal with Barcelona in 2022.

Since then, Spotify has given Barcelona a VIP pass to the world of music in a way that no other European football club has. This Travis Scott jersey is just the latest in a series of one-off Barcelona collaborations with artists like Drake, Chris Martin, and Karol G.

Travis Scott is a multi-hyphenated cultural phenom that sits on the Mount Olympus of hip hop & streetwear and there’s no way he would have worked with Barcelona without Spotify’s involvement.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) had a similar “VIP pass” to the world of fashion when they collaborated with Air Jordan. It’s simply good business for a sports team to embed themselves within a cultural vertical like music or fashion.

If a team works with the right partners (like Travis Scott or Jordan brand), they associate with a deeper part of culture. That increases the desirability of the team, which should impact the sales of merchandise and all other ancillary revenue streams.

While I expect some traditional football die hards to roll their eyes at Travis Scott, there are likely millions of young people around the world who have become significantly more excited about Barcelona now that Travis Scott is associated with the team.

At this point, Barcelona has derived significant value from their Spotify partnership in a way that’s unique and better than a traditional sponsorship.