Professional sports continues to successfully mine new and lucrative revenue streams.
The championship soccer team in Barcelona, Spain, agreed to a sponsorship deal with Intel on Thursday that will feature the chipmaker’s logo printed on the inside of players’ shirts.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Forbes reported it is worth $25 million over five years. Qatar Airways pays roughly $40 million a year for its name to be on the outside of the jersey.
The idea behind the first-of-its-kind positioning of the “Intel Inside” logo is that it will be revealed when a player lifts his shirt to celebrate scoring a goal, officials of the Barcelona team told a news conference in the Catalan capital.
The players, including Lionel Messi, Neymar and Andres Iniesta, would be under no obligation to display the logo, which will be added to the shirts for the first time for Saturday’s La Liga match at home to Villarreal, Manel Arroyo, a club director responsible for media and sponsorship, said.
As part of their first foray into soccer sponsorship, Intel will also provide technology to players and coaching staff as well as the recruits at Barca’s academy, officials said.
Deborah Conrad, Intel’s chief marketing officer, said the decision to partner with Barca had been taken after a search for suitable “passion points” that the company hoped to tap into to help connect them with consumers.