Camp Nou or Nou Camp? Has the Spotify name change put the argument to rest?
The times. They are a-changin'.
Bob Dylan's 1964 folk track will be low down on the list of a go-to song for most Barcelona fans who will soon probably be taking advantage of a sweet Spotify premium deal to celebrate a much-needed cash injection.
The Catalan giants had long prided themselves on being sponsorless, but to quote Dylan: "The slow one now, will later be fast. As the present now, will later be past."
But renaming the historic old Camp Nou? That's akin to giving the Sagrada Familia a "brought to you by" tagline - or Parc Guell having an elongated prefix. It's seeping Americanisation in football and it's not on.
However, it does answer a lingering question - particularly for native English speakers.
Naming it the Spotify Camp Nou - officially - means that most football fans in England can end their obsession with calling it the Nou Camp.
A little historical look on Google Trends shows the majority of the world calls it Camp Nou with notable exceptions in Turkey, the UK, Vietnam, Slovakia and Ireland.
Turkey, Ireland and the UK have historically called Barcelona's home ground the 'Nou Camp'.
But there is hope on the horizon. In the past day, search conventions around Camp Nou/Nou Camp are changing. In Ireland, 64 per cent of users typed in Camp Nou. In the UK that split was 66-34 per cent. In Turkey, the split is 70-30 per cent.
On March 15, users in Ireland and the UK were searching for Camp Nou more frequently than Nou Camp.
There are certainly some breakout searches on Google Trends but in the long run it is not likely.
Unlike Americans who love to attend basketball fixtures at the Smoothie King Center, adopting branded stadium names in parlance has worked well mainly in new-builds. Arsenal's The Emirates


