Manchester United in talks for new shirt sponsorship deal from 2021
Manchester United are said to be in talks with ‘a number of major organisations’ that could result in a new sponsor replacing American car manufacturer Chevrolet on the front of the club’s shirt as of 2021, when the current contract is due to expire.
United have had the famous Chevrolet logo emblazoned on their home, away and third shirts since 2014 when a seven-year deal, worth an estimated £450m in total, was struck. United were previously sponsored by AON – whose logo continues to adorn training gear – and AIG.
United shirts have also been sponsored by tech company Sharp and mobile network Vodafone since such deals first became commonplace in English football in the 1980s.
But there could be a new premier sponsor on the famous red jerseys before long, with Sky Sports reporting that talks are ongoing with multiple potential contenders.
The Daily Mail claims that Chevrolet are unlikely to renew their deal. The car giant is described as ‘thoroughly unimpressed’ with United’s lack of success in recent years, even quoting one ‘insider’ as saying they ‘massively overpaid’ and the deal was ‘doomed from the start’.
But despite falling away from the elite level in terms on their on-field success, Sky’s report claims with confidence, citing ‘industry experts’, that United will achieve a new deal that at least matches, if not exceeds, the incredibly lucrative Chevrolet agreement.
Until then, United have two more years with Chevrolet, a partnership that a club spokesperson insists the Red Devils are still keen to ‘maximise’ while it has time left to run.
When it comes to revenues, the Old Trafford club is still king. At the end of September, United reported a record income of £627.1m for the 2018/19 season. In 12 months, that was a sizeable jump from the already huge £590m revenue from the previous 2017/18 campaign.
It is that kind of strength in business that allows the club to compete in the transfer market and pay the highest fees and salaries – the £80m summer capture of Harry Maguire was a world record fee for a defender, while United had broken the overall world record to sign Paul Pogba.
In the club’s latest financial results last month, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward expressed ongoing commitment to ‘rebuilding the team’, as well as ‘strengthening’ the youth setup.
“Everyone at Manchester United is committed to delivering on our primary objective of winning trophies,” he declared.
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