In what was arguably the largest sports and music crossover surprise in history, three of the world’s largest stars—Travis Scott, Ed Sheeran, and Taylor Swift—were said to have been in a furious battle to be placed on FC Barcelona‘s jersey for the next El Clásico on May 11.
Club sources said Spotify, Barcelona‘s front sponsor, was weighing up several A-list acts for the high-profile position, which triggered a behind-the-scenes battle between the artists’ teams.
Travis Scott, whose sky-high streetwear fame and earlier Nike collaborations, appeared the best choice for football-fashion union.
Ed Sheeran, however, lifelong football fan and occasional shirt backer of his beloved Ipswich Town, campaigned loudly for the shot, using his connection to sport.
But the most unexpected contender had to be Taylor Swift, whose tour has broken records globally.
Her camp allegedly toyed with exclusive “Barça’s Version” jersey idea, tip-of-the-mouse to re-recorded albums, which would have left the Swifties frothing.
The negotiations were said to be intense, with each artist bringing proprietary marketing concepts—from halftime performances to single-day merchandise drops.
Insiders speculated that Barcelona’s decision would ultimately come down to global reach, fan engagement, and marketability, making it one of the most lucrative (and secretive) sponsorship battles in recent history.
Travis Scott keeps the Crown now. As reported by Diari ARA, Travis Scott has been selected as the artist to adorn Barcelona’s jersey for the record-breaking match against Real Madrid.
The Utopia rapper’s Cactus Jack imprint will take the place of Spotify’s logo in a customdesign, the first time that an artist’s own imprint has been used on Barcelona’s legendary blaugrana jersey.
The union cemented Scott’s reign at the crossroads of music, fashion, and sports and, at the same time, marked Barcelona’s bid to reach out to the global youth market.
With El Clásico approximated to have hundreds of millions of viewers, the partnership is most likely to be football and popular culture’s biggest watercooler moment of the year.
Will this open doors for other musicians to adorn football jerseys in the future? One thing’s for sure: Travis Scott just scored the largest feature of his career.
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