Taylor Swift appears to be trading in football … for futball?
OK, well, soccer for most of us in North America.
The pop superstar seems set to be expanding her reach in the sporting world from the NFL to Spain’s La Liga, reportedly teaming up with one of the biggest clubs in worldwide sports: Barcelona.
According to RAC1’s Tu diràs program, Swift currently is the leading candidate to have her name featured on Barca’s jersey for its La Liga Clásico against Real Madrid in May.
Although the deal is not yet finalized, the agreement reportedly is in its final stages.
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Through its sponsorship deal with Spotify, Barcelona has often replaced the company’s logo on the front of their jerseys with names or logos of popular musicians.
Since 2022, Barcelona has featured Drake, Rosalía, The Rolling Stones, Karol G, and Coldplay as sponsors on their kits.
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Two months ago, Mundo Deportivo reported that Ed Sheeran – who also has a sponsorship deal with Ipswich Town in the Premier League — was a strong contender for the Barca kit, while RAC1 added that rapper Travis Scott also has been considered.
The match, which will take place either May 10 or 11 at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in the Catalonian city, should be massive in the Spanish title race, with Barca and Real currently tied atop the table with 60 points – though Barcelona has a game in hand.
Also, seeing Swift’s name on the front of the Barca kits might fire up rival fans – Swift played at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium during her ultra-successful Eras Tour last year.
As successful as Barcelona has been over its history, the club has struggled financially in the past few years, being forced to sell several players and unable to re-sign Argentine superstar Lionel Messi. The club had to use several financial “levers” in order to stay afloat and continue signing and registering players.
As such, fans online were quick to joke about Swift coming to the club’s rescue.
“The one lever to rule them all,” one user on reddit wrote in reply to the report, adding, “I’m a huge Chiefs fan, the Swift exposure/money has been amazing for the team. Barca will make bank on this.”
“The greatest lever. Gonna be a Cruel Summer for Barca’s rival’s soon when they Shake all of their debt Off,” another commented.
“Is she gonna start dating a player on the team as well?” one user joked, with others replying with suggestions of which team member would benefit most from attaching themselves to the popstar.
Another user noted how the amount of special edition jerseys for sale may be limited to drive up the price.
“If they do the same as they did before it will be very limited. The Rosalia ones were limited to 1899 pieces, the year Barca was founded. These were 400 euro a piece. If it’s again limited like that you will have to be very lucky to buy one on Barca’s website,” the user wrote.
Swift has been dating Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce since 2023, with the popstar bringing a massive amount of exposure to the tight end, the team and the NFL.