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While it may seem silly from the outside, there’s plenty of room for ritual in sports. When important games are being decided by the finest of margins and luck can be the difference between a championship and a failed season, everyone’s willing to take every advantage they can get. Ahead of El Clasico, however, Barcelona are heading in the opposite direction.

Facing off against Real Madrid is always a big deal, but Barca could be inviting a curse into their midst ahead of the big match. In a touch of incredible (silly) commercialism, the famous soccer club will be warming up with special jerseys honoring Drake on Sunday. As sports fans can tell you, that might not be the best idea.

Barcelona will take the pitch wearing Drake’s logo against Real Madrid

There was a time when Barcelona refused to have any sponsor on the front of their famous jerseys. Over time, though, the club gave in, and ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, the Spanish giants inked a massive deal with Spotify. Heading into Sunday’s edition of El Clasico, though, things will already be looking different.

On Friday, October 14, the club announced that the Spotify logo would be replaced with Drake’s owl logo in commemoration of his streaming success.

“One of the main ideas behind the alliance between FC Barcelona and Spotify is to bring football and music together in order to connect with new audiences around the world. As both are capable of bringing people together and exciting fans, for the first time, the men’s football team will enter the pitch for Sunday’s Clásico wearing a jersey featuring the logo of an internationally acclaimed artist – rapper and singer Drake, winner of 4 Grammy awards and the first to surpass 50 billion streams on Spotify – rather than their main partner’s logo,” a statement from the club explained.

“So, on October 16, instead of seeing the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service logo on the front of the Barça jersey, those watching the game against Real Madrid will see the silhouette of an owl – the logo of the Canadian singer’s brand. Spotify has given this privileged space on the jersey as part of the framework of the partnership with the Club, just one of the actions that both brands are putting into place to offer innovative experiences for football fans, as well as helping to reach new audiences through music.”

To take things even further, there will be two different Drake-themed jerseys for the match.

Barca will warm up in tops that have the standard Spotify branding on the front and the name, “Drake” and number 50 on the back. Then, for the match, they’ll switch to tops bearing the OVO logo and the players’ names and numbers for logistical reasons.

Barcelona could be running afoul of a famous curse by letting Drake on their jerseys

Despite some struggles in the Champions League, Barcelona has gotten off to a strong start in La Liga. Heading into Sunday’s match with Real Madrid, the Catalan club sits atop the table with 22 points and a seven-goal cushion ahead of their famous rivals. With that being said, though, Drake could change everything.

As sports fans know, the Canadian has historically been somewhat of a bearer of (sporting) bad news. When Drake appeared alongside an athlete ahead of a competition, things seemed to go wrong. Ask Conor McGregor, Serena Williams, Anthony Joshua, the Alabama Crimson Tide, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Kentucky Wildcats, and plenty of other hard-luck losers.

While there have been some notable exceptions to the rule, like the entire Toronto Raptors organization during the run to the 2019 NBA title, is it really a wise idea to tempt fate ahead of a globally anticipated battle with your biggest rival? Especially when first place is on the line?

Barcelona, for better or worse, will be doing that this Sunday. Will they need to take care as the Drake curse comes into effect? Or will this edition of El Clasico be the best they ever had?

At this point, only time will tell.

Have thoughts on this topic? Keep the conversation rolling in our comments section below.

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Senior Writer, Programmer

Joe Kozlowski

Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he’s a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie.

Growing up loving Shaquille O’Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he’s continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives.

As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He’s barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe’s big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level.

Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.