AUSTIN, Texas & MADRID--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 24, 2024--
Ouro, a global financial services and technology innovator, and the Real Madrid Football Club today announced a strategic partnership agreement to develop and deliver co-branded financial solutions to fans in key markets globally, including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, France and the United Arab Emirates. The alliance makes Ouro the exclusive partner of the men's and women's football teams for the prepaid, debit and credit card product categories.
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From the April 15 signing event in Madrid, Emilio Butragueño, Real Madrid’s Director of Institutional Relations, commented, “It’s hugely gratifying. They are leaders in financial services who will partner with us in countries around the world. We share a commitment to values like constant reinvention and trying to get better everyday that are as fundamental to our organizations as integrity. We look forward to an enduring and rewarding partnership.”
As an official partner to Real Madrid in these countries, Ouro will unite the Real Madrid brand and Madridista loyalty program benefits with Ouro branded products and their unique functionalities – this includes Ouro’s flagship Netspend brand which pioneered prepaid debit for underserved consumers across the U.S., and its more recently developed X World Wallet that offers a multi-currency wallet and payments app for mobile, multicultural consumers.
“We are honored to join forces with such a storied and beloved global brand to make financial empowerment products more accessible to more people,” said Bertrand Sosa, president and chief brand officer, Ouro. “This unique opportunity to help people take their money further so they can experience more of what they love is the motivation behind our work, and to have Real Madrid collaborate with us to deliver even more value to such a passionate fan base is very special.”
By joining sports loyalty with financial solutions, Ouro and Real Madrid aim to deepen the Madridistas’ connection with their club, maximize the value of their money and promote financial responsibility and accessibility. The partnership also supports Ouro’s strategic focus on innovation, growth, and expansion to global markets.
“We are proud to announce our partnership with Real Madrid, a global icon that shares our values of excellence, winning spirit, solidarity, and humility,” added Roy Sosa, Ouro CEO and Co-founder. “Today we start a movement that transcends sports. Together, we will empower millions of fans and customers to achieve their financial goals and turn their dreams into reality.”
The partnership will soon launch a co-branded Netspend card featuring the Real Madrid brand in the U.S. in anticipation of the team’s upcoming U.S. Summer Tour.
The partners have also started joint development of a co-branded financial product combining the loyalty benefits of the Madridista Club membership with a digital multi-currency wallet they will begin rolling out to fans around the world later this year. Loyal Real Madrid fans can expect these payment products to bring them even closer to the action, with special access to discounts and experiences at the point of sale and beyond.
Fans who want to be among the first to know about availability where they live can now join the waitlist at ouro.com/realmadrid.
About Ouro
Ouro is a global, vertically-integrated financial services and technology company dedicated to the delivery of innovative financial empowerment solutions to consumers worldwide. Ouro's financial products and services span prepaid, debit, cross-border payments, and loyalty solutions for consumers and enterprise partners. Since its founding in 1999 by industry pioneers Roy and Bertrand Sosa, Ouro products have processed almost a trillion dollars in transaction volume and served millions of customers worldwide. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas with regional offices across the world. For more information, visit ouro.com.
About Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F. is a sport entity with 122 years of history. It is the club with the most European Cups of both football (14) and basketball (11) and was awarded by FIFA as the Best Club of the twentieth century. Real Madrid has millions of fans in all corners of the world, with more than 534 million followers on social media, being the strongest football brand in the world according to Brand Finance for the second year in a row and also the highest earning football club in the world in the 22-23 season (Football Money League by Deloitte). More information about Real Madrid C.F. is available at www.realmadrid.com, the most visited football club website for the seventh consecutive year.
Bertrand Sosa, Emilio Butragueño and Roy Sosa (Photo: Business Wire)
Bertrand Sosa, Emilio Butragueño and Roy Sosa (Photo: Business Wire)
The signing event held April 15 in Madrid with Ouro founders Bertrand Sosa and Roy Sosa and Emilio Butragueño, Real Madrid’s Director of Institutional Relations. (Photo: Business Wire)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — When Arkansas lawmakers decided five years ago to replace the statues representing the state at the U.S. Capitol, there was little objection to getting rid of the existing sculptures. The statues that had stood there for more than 100 years were obscure figures in the state's history.
“I remember giving tours to constituents from Arkansas, to young people, and I would point out the two representatives in Statuary Hall in our United States Capitol from Arkansas,” said former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who also served in Congress. “And they would say, ‘We’ve never heard of them.’”
Instead of two little-known figures from the 18th and 19th centuries, the state will soon be represented by the “Man in Black” and a woman who was instrumental in the fight over school desegregation.
Officials plan to install statues of civil rights leader Daisy Bates this week and musician Johnny Cash later this year.
Bates, who headed the state NAACP, mentored the Black students known as the Little Rock Nine who integrated Central High School in 1957. She is a well-known civil rights figure in Arkansas, where a downtown street in the capital, Little Rock, is named in her honor. The state also marks Daisy Bates Day on Presidents Day.
Benjamin Victor, the Idaho sculptor who was chosen to create the statue of Bates, said he began his work by extensively studying her, including reading her 1962 autobiography and visiting her Little Rock home and Central High. He said he hopes the statue will help U.S. Capitol visitors learn more about her as well.
“I hope it really first and foremost inspires them to study Daisy Bates' life and legacy,” Victor said. “A big part of it is to capture that spirit of hers and inspire others to do the same and stand up for what’s right.”
The 8-foot tall bronze statue depicts Bates, who with her husband published the Arkansas State Press newspaper, walking with a newspaper in her arm. She holds a notebook and pen in one hand and wears a NAACP pin and rose on her lapel.
Cash was born in Kingsland, a tiny town about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Little Rock. He died in 2003 at age 71. His achievements include 90 million records sold worldwide spanning country, rock, blues, folk and gospel. He was among the few artists inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The 8-foot (2.4-meter) tall statue of Cash depicts the singer with a guitar slung across his back and a Bible in his hand. Little Rock sculptor Kevin Kresse, who was selected to create the statue, has sculpted other musical figures from Arkansas such as Al Green, Glen Campbell and Levon Helm.
Kresse views Cash as a much-needed addition to the Capitol as a counterbalance to the conflict in Congress, he said.
“He walked the walk and he lived what he believed. And that was just this quality that really appealed to me,” Kresse said. “And that interior thoughtfulness was something that I really wanted to try to bring out in this sculpture.”
The Bates and Cash statues will replace ones depicting James P. Clarke, a former governor and U.S. senator in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and Uriah Rose, a 19th century attorney. The statues had come under scrutiny, especially over racist comments Clarke made calling on the Democratic Party to preserve “white standards.”
Republican Sen. Bart Hester, a Republican who is now the Senate president pro tem, began calling for the statues to be replaced in 2018. Clarke Tucker, Clarke's great-great-grandson and a Democratic state senator, also called for his ancestor's statue to come down.
“There was recognition broadly that it was time for a change,” said Hutchinson, who signed the 2019 law requiring the Bates and Cash statues to go up.
Choosing their replacements was the hard part, with lawmakers offering competing ideas ranging from Walmart founder Sam Walton to a Navy SEAL from the state who was killed in Afghanistan. After some wrangling, lawmakers eventually approved Bates and Cash.
Sen. David Wallace, who sponsored the legislation to replace the previous sculptures, said he hoped the new statues would tell people more about the types of figures Arkansas has produced over the years.
“We wanted to do the common person that represented Arkansas,” Wallace said. “And I think that with Daisy Bates and with Johnny Cash, we covered the spectrum in Arkansas. Just, they represent the common folks of Arkansas.”
Associated Press reporter Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.
Arkansas State Sen. David Wallace holds a small-scale statue of Johnny Cash, on April 23, 2024, in Little Rock, Ark. Artist Kevin Kresse's full sculpture of Cash will be unveiled at the U.S Capitol as part of the Statuary Hall collection, later this year. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson holds a small-scale statue of Johnny Cash, on April 23, 2024, in Little Rock, Ark. Artist Kevin Kresse's full sculpture of Cash will be unveiled at the U.S. Capitol as part of the Statuary Hall collection, later this year. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
Artist Kevin Kresse, works on a clay bust of Johnny Cash, April 23, 2024 in Little Rock, Ark. Kresse's full sculpture of Cash will be unveiled at the U.S. Capitol as part of the Statuary Hall collection, later this year. (AP Photo/Mike Pesoli)
Artist Kevin Kresse, works on a clay bust of Johnny Cash, April 23, 2024 in Little Rock, Ark. Kresse's full sculpture of Cash will be unveiled at the U.S. Capitol as part of the Statuary Hall collection, later this year. (AP Photo/Mike Pesoli)
Benjamin Victor works on his sculpture of Daisy Gatson Bates at the Windgate Center of Art and Design at the The University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus on Monday, April 25, 2022, in Little Rock, Ark. The statue will be placed in the Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol when it is completed. (Stephen Swofford/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)
Artist Kevin Kresse, is shown with a clay bust of Johnny Cash, April 23, 2024 in Little Rock, Ark. Kresse's full sculpture of Cash will be unveiled at the U.S. Capitol as part of the Statuary Hall collection, later this year. (AP Photo/Mike Pesoli)
