Why Barcelona will have the word 'golf' on their shirt for El Clasico clash with Real Madrid

Barcelona will play this month's El Clasico against Real Madrid with the word 'GOLF' across the front of their shirts.

Barcelona face bitter rivals Real Madrid in La Liga on Sunday 25 October and the temporary shirt sponsor is part of a collaboration between the Catalan giants, music streaming platform Spotify, and musician and artist Tyler, The Creator.

He is the man behind the GOLF WANG brand whose logo will be worn by Barcelona's women's team next Saturday and the men's team the following evening.

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Spotify loans out Barcelona shirt sponsorship for El Clasico

"Tyler, The Creator takes the baton from Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran, Travis Scott, Coldplay, Karol G, The Rolling Stones, Rosalia and Drake, artists who previously featured on the front of the FC Barcelona jersey," says the club's announcement.

"For the first time, Spotify has handed over full creative control to an artist and their brand for the associated audiovisual and graphic campaign."

The match shirt will be at the heart of a collaborative collection that also includes tracksuits, bomber jackets and t-shirts, as well as a match scarf.

Spotify will head up a music event in Barcelona on the day before the game against Real Madrid and the shirt will be available for players of eFootball from Friday 23 October.

1,899 'matchday quality' shirts will be sold along with a further 22 signed by the men's and women's squads, and 11 more signed by Tyler, The Creator.

"The collaboration between FC Barcelona and Spotify continues to forge new connections between football, music and contemporary culture," says Barcelona commercial chief Marc Soler.

"With Tyler, The Creator featured on the Clasico shirt, we are building on an initiative that has become part of the anticipation surrounding this match and enables us to reach audiences around the world."

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Barcelona's history with shirt sponsorship

Barcelona have a short history with front-of-shirt sponsorship.

Formed in 1899, the Blaugrana elected not to engage with shirt sponsorship until 2006, 25 years after other Spanish clubs took the plunge.

Between 2006 and 2011, Barcelona shirts bore the logo of UNICEF, the children's charity wing of the United Nations, which they wore for free until they sold their sponsorship for the first time in 2011.

Barcelona were sponsored by Qatar Foundation, Qatar Airways and Rakuten over the next 11 years.

They've been sponsored by Spotify since 2022 and the unusual deal has seen the promotional real estate given over to the motley assortment of big musical names for some of the team's meetings with Real Madrid.

Rapper Drake was the first. In 2022, his October's Very Own brand logo featured on Barcelona's shirt for an El Clasico defeat against Real Madrid.

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