Nike, Puma, Hummel: who will win the battle for Barcelona’s jersey contract?

The Catalan club’s jersey agreement with Nike is up for renewal and various brands are keen on offering cash-strapped Laporta a lucrative deal.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta spoke out about the club’s contract with kit suppliers, Nike, the brand that has designed and provided sportswear for the Catalan club since 1998. One may think that at that point in such a long-term relationship, every argument has been had and the agreements can be reached with nods of heads and high-fives.

Unfortunately, at the LaLiga club, that’s rarely the case. Nike’s contract with the club runs out in 2028 yet despite this, there is one huge money hole to be filled at Camp Nou. As it stands, the relationship between Nike and Barça is not at its strongest, and the wobble in happiness has seen other brands start to circle.

Barça’s kit situation ‘not desirable’

“We have a situation that is not desirable, because they don’t restock our material; and because our competitors pay us double what Nike pays us. As soon as we told them that the market pays us much more, they made an effort, and we thank them for it, but it’s not enough.” Joan Laporta raged a few weeks ago regarding the bidding to provide for his club without worrying, at least on the surface, that the blaugrana have a contract signed until 2028.

It was in 1982 when Meyba stepped in to take over the design and manufacture process of Barcelona’s playing materials, and they provided kits and training wear for them until 1992. They won their first European Cup wearing Meyba’s now famous orange away kit against the blue of Sampdoria. After that, Kappa took over and created kits for the club until 1998, placing the famous Kappa sleeve print down the shoulders on classic Barça colours.

At the moment, Puma are the strongest bidder to replace Nike as the brand that creates for the Catalans. In addition, as announced yesterday by Jijantes’ Twitter channel, the Danish company Hummel is an alternative that Barça have on the table.

Joan Laporta also opened up the possibility of Barcelona operating with their own brand. However, Barça are perhaps a little late to activate this option because the logistics to manufacture kits are not simple. The club’s own factories are needed, and Barça would need to have already out things in place to have everything ready on time. That is why, with a view to next season, it is difficult to see any changes. Nike remain the favourites to design the kits for the 2024-25 season. For the 2025-26 season, it remains to be seen.