Barça's £4m kit nightmare: Thousands of unused shirts gathering dust in Barcelona warehouse
Barcelona's power play during Nike negotiations has backfired, with 300,000 garments worth £4m sitting unused in a warehouse after renewing with the American brand.
Barcelona’s financial woes take another bizarre turn as 300,000 pieces of official club merchandise worth approximately £4 million remain unused in an industrial warehouse.
Nike negotiation tactics gone wrong
Two seasons ago, while locked in contract renewal negotiations with longtime kit supplier Nike, Barcelona commissioned their own branded sportswear as both a pressure tactic and Plan B should talks collapse. The club has partnered with the American sportswear giant since 1998.
The gambit appears to have backfired spectacularly. Despite eventually securing a massive £1.7 billion renewal with Nike through 2038, the club is now stuck with hundreds of thousands of garments they legally cannot use.
According to El País, these items - some with price tags of €89 attached - sit in storage featuring only the club’s own branding and a Bihub Tech (Barça Innovation Hub) label, but crucially lacking Nike’s iconic swoosh.
No solution in sight
The club produced the items during a particularly tense period in negotiations when:
- Barça was actively courting Puma as an alternative supplier
- The Nike deal nearly collapsed entirely
- The club needed kit options for all professional teams
- Thousands of first-team kits were prepared for club stores
Josep Maria Meseguer, head of Barça Licensing and Merchandising (BLM), confirmed there are no immediate plans to use these garments. The technical sportswear falls under Nike’s exclusive rights, meaning any potential use would require the American brand’s explicit permission.
With Barcelona’s well-documented financial troubles, having £4 million worth of kit gathering dust in a warehouse is hardly the sort of bread and butter they need right now. Talk about being caught with your trousers down!