Manchester United’s sponsorship deal with Tezos is set to end this month but the club are “confident” an alternative partner will be found, according to a report.
Tezos, a blockchain company based in Switzerland, agreed to become United’s training kit sponsor in 2022.
They replaced AON, who had previously sponsored the club’s training attire for eight years in a deal worth £120 million in total – £15 million a year.
The new deal was believed to be worth around £24 million a year, according to the Manchester Evening News.
It’s a testament to the global appeal the Red Devils hold that a company would be willing to spend such an amount simply to become the chief sponsor of the training kit.
Snapdragon, a subsidiary of American multinational Qualcomm, pay £60 million a year to sponsor the club’s match-day kit, further demonstrating the popularity of the United brand.
Aston Villa, a Premier League rival who finished nine places ahead of United and reached the quarter-final of the Champions League, receive £20 million annually from their first-team kit sponsor – £4 million less than United receive for their training kit, by comparison.
There is little concern at Old Trafford over the prospect of the partnership with Tezos ending, however.
Club sources are “confident that a new training kit sponsor will be agreed” with a “strong pipeline” of prospective replacements vying to strike a deal.
Despite the team’s dismal form on the pitch, the brand of Manchester United continues to constitute a commercial juggernaut worldwide.
Sponsorship deals are even more important now than ever before with the club’s finances stretched and Ruben Amorim’s squad in desperate need of a comprehensive overhaul this summer.
As such, United are expecting a busy transfer window a £62.5 million deal to sign Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanders already agreed and the prospect of a similarly priced move for Brentford winger Byran Mbeumo in the works.
But it is partnerships like the one with with Tezos, worth £24 million in revenue, which help facilitate these types of transfers. It is important, therefore, that United find a willing replacement to adorn the training kits of new signings this summer, or else they may not arrive at all.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
