Can I buy the Drake Barcelona shirt? Why OVO logo is on jersey vs Real Madrid in El Clasico, explained

Barcelona are hoping to stay top of the La Liga charts after El Clasico this weekend, when the Blaugrana will need to be on-song at a Real Madrid side who are behind them in second on goal difference.

Special games clearly require a special sartorial selection, although few might have anticipated rap superstar Drake’s logo appearing on Barcelona’s shirt for the colossal clash between Spain’s greatest clubs.

Drake himself says he is stunned, telling his Instagram following of more than 122 million: “This doesn’t feel real – but it is.”

What’s the story behind the partnership? Can you buy the shirt? Here’s what we know about the surprise switch.

Why is Drake on the Barcelona shirt?

Barcelona shirts have been branded with the Spotify logo this season as part of a huge deal between the five-time Champions League winners and the audio streaming subscription service.

Now Barca have arranged for reigning The Best FIFA Men’s Player Robert Lewandowski and his teammates to enter the pitch with the silhouette of an owl on their chests — the logo of Drake’s OVO brand.

The Canadian singer co-founded the Toronto-based record label — the name stands for ‘October’s Very Own’ — in 2012.

The four-time Grammy award winner became the first artist to surpass 50 billion streams on Spotify, and the club and service say his presence on the shirt is part of a plan to offer “innovative experiences” for fans and reach new audiences through music.

There are similarities to the deal that another Spanish club, Atletico Madrid, reached with Columbia Pictures for the 2003/04 season, when the logo on Atleti’s shirt changed to reflect the release of 16 different films over the course of the campaign.

That meant Fernando Torres & Co. wore logos promoting films such as Spider-Man and Peter Pan, while Hollywood icons including Harrison Ford and Will Smith posed with their shirts.

Intriguingly, Barcelona say that their ‘sponsor’ will also change for upcoming matchdays, so we can expect to see different Spotify artists on the front of the shirt throughout the course of the campaign.

The Drake design will also see Barca players wear a special version of the shirt during the pre-match warm up, featuring the number 50 on the back and the Spotify logo instead of Drake’s symbol on the front.

“We were really excited to celebrate one of the biggest games of the year and mark Drake’s milestone as the first artist to reach 50 billion streams,” said Spotify partnerships boss Marc Hazan.

“We’ve always said that we want this partnership to be a celebration of fans, players and artist’s on a global stage — and there’s no bigger stage than El Clasico.”

What is the Drake curse?

From Juventus and Manchester City to the Italy and Mexico national teams, Drake has not been shy to wear football shirts in the past.

One note of concern for Barca might be the suspicions among some fans that a ‘Drake curse’ has affected numerous teams and athletes the 35-year-old has associated himself with.

Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are among the football teams who have been handed defeats off the back of a photo of Drizzy with their jersey, while in US sports, the likes of the Philadelphia 76ers and Kentucky Wildcats have felt the full force of it. 

If Barcelona lose against Real Madrid, we can say it was the Drake Curse pic.twitter.com/kG9vzTjLDb

— Ziad is NOT in pain  (@Ziad_EJ) October 14, 2022

UFC megastar Conor McGregor was soundly beaten in the biggest fight of his career when he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018, having been with Drake at the weigh-in and supported at ringside on the night by the artist.

British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua tweeted that he would break the curse before his fight against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, but the pledge became a nightmare when he suffered a shock knockout defeat to sustain the first loss of his career and lose his titles.

It would not be quite such a surprise if Barca were to lose at the reigning champions — but that won’t stop another potential avalanche of memes reviving talk of a hoodoo.

MORE: Barcelona vs. Inter Milan result: Barcelona on the Champions League brink after six-goal thriller

Is the Drake Barcelona shirt for sale?

Curiously for a concept with lucrative crossover appeal, the design is not on general sale.

Instead, Barcelona are encouraging fans to join a competition for the chance to win one of the shirts. Anyone who registers on Barcelona’s site can become part of a draw to receive what is certain to be a prized collector’s item.

How much is the Spotify deal with Barcelona worth?

Spanish media have reported that the deal with Spotify is worth around £348 million ($389m) to Barcelona, allowing the Swedish brand to appear on the front of the men’s and women’s shirts for four seasons, and the club’s stadium to be known as Spotify Camp Nou for 12 years.

It is little wonder that the club’s assembly voted 89 percent in favour of the deal: Barca’s well-documented debts were said to have reached a figure of £1.2bn ($1.3bn) not long before Spotify — whose owner, Daniel Ek, had previously shown interest in buying Arsenal — moved in.

Those debts would have been fatal to most clubs in the world but Barca have survived, largely thanks to their status as an institution with one of the highest revenue streams in sports.

In his second spell as club president, Joan Laporta has put Barca’s economic ‘levers’ into overdrive in recent months, selling off domestic TV rights to a US investment firm and almost 25% of its digital business and audiovisual productions to other buyers.

MORE: Lionel Messi back to Barcelona? Xavi and Joan Laporta pushing for possible return

The low point of Barca’s near-disastrous financial plight came when all-time record goalscorer Lionel Messi was forced to bid a tearful public farewell to the first club of his career, because Barca were not allowed to finalise a new contract with the icon under salary limit rules in Spain.

There was also a sense of farce at the start of the 2022/23 season when Barcelona struggled to register new players.

Barca’s maneuvering is said to have earned the club around £522m ($584m), although their likely departure from the Champions League in the group stage this season is expected to represent a heavy financial blow to their recovery.

Despite the vast sum Spotify have lavished on Barca, the club’s marketing vice-president, Juli Guiu, calls it an “alliance” which “goes beyond a mere commercial relationship.”

“As we have stated on numerous occasions, it is a strategic relationship through which we seek to bring together two worlds that can arouse emotion,” he said. “Namely, music and football.”

How to watch Real Madrid vs. Barcelona

Here’s the TV and streaming information for the match featuring the special edition Barcelona shirt on Sunday, October 16.

UK: The Oct. 16 El Clasico tilt will be shown in the UK on Premier Sports 1 and LaLigaTV. It can be streamed via Premier Player.

USA: The match between Real Madrid and Barcelona from the Bernabeu can be seen in the USA on ESPN Deportes, and streamed on ESPN+ along with all other La Liga matches.

ESPN Deportes is also available to stream on fuboTV, and there’s a special offer $40 off on the Latino package quarterly plan through October 16, available for just $59.

Canada: The match will be broadcast in Canada on TSN3, which is also available to stream via the TSN app or official website.

Australia: Australia’s exclusive broadcaster for La Liga is Optus Sport, who also is the exclusive broadcaster for the Premier League.