F.C. Barcelona
The nickname culé for a Barcelona supporter is derived from the Catalan cul (English: arse), as the spectators at the first stadium, Camp de la Indústria, sat with their culs over the stand. In Spain, about 25% of the population is said to be Barça sympathisers, second behind Real Madrid, supported by 32% of the population. Throughout Europe, Barcelona is the favourite second-choice club. The club's membership figures have seen a significant increase from 100,000 in the 2003–04 season to 170,000 in September 2009, the sharp rise being attributed to the influence of Ronaldinho and then-president Joan Laporta's media strategy that focused on Spanish and English online media.
In addition to membership, as of 2010 there are 1,335 officially registered fan clubs, called penyes, around the world. The fan clubs promote Barcelona in their locality and receive beneficial offers when visiting Barcelona, Among the best supported teams globally, Barcelona has the highest social media following in the world among sports teams, with over 90 million Facebook fans as of February 2016. The club has had many prominent people among its supporters, including Pope John Paul II, who was an honorary member, and former prime minister of Spain José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero. FC Barcelona has the second highest average attendance of European football clubs only behind Borussia Dortmund
At the beginning, half the shirt was blue and the other claret, the sleeves were opposite colours and the shorts were white. One of the many theories explaining the origin of the kit colours — blue and scarlet — is that Gamper used the same colours as the Basel team, where he had played before coming to Catalonia.
Social Media Followers: 100 million followers (87m facebook, 18m twitter)
Tv Viewership: Barcelona had independent tv around the world (about to change as La Liga passed collective tv deal bill)
Shirt sales: Sold 121,500 shirts in 2015
Sponsorship deal: Nike £28m a year, QatarAirways £27m a year and number of other sponsorship deal.
