Adidas signs $1.2 billion partnership with Manchester United for the next 10 years 

Adidas signs $1.2 billion partnership with Manchester United for the next 10 years

New York

CNN

Manchester United and Adidas are extending their apparel-sponsorship contract in a record-breaking £900 million ($1.2 billion) deal that lasts for another decade.

We are extremely proud to announce the extension of the contract with Manchester United,” Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said. “Adidas and Manchester United are two of the most important brands in international football and it is very natural for us to continue our cooperation.”

 

Monday’s deal is a marked increase from the previous deal, which was worth around £750 million. Commercial deals like these can be lucrative for sports teams as their international appeal grows and selling fashionable clothing becomes an additional revenue stream.

 

The deal comes as the world-famous club is possibly up for sale. Last year, its American owners, the Glazer family, said it has begun a “process to explore strategic alternatives,” which might include a total sale. That was welcome news to the team’s fans as its ownership is deeply unpopular with them since the leveraged buyout of Manchester United left the club burdened with a net debt of $626 million, according to the organization’s latest accounts.

 

Forbes ranks Manchester United as the world’s second most valuable team, assessing the 145-year-old team at to be worth $6 billion. Shares of the team perked up 2% in trading following the news.

 

The German sportswear company will continue making kits and other apparel for the British football team, in one of the biggest Premiere League sponsorships that began in 2015, following the team’s defection from Nike.

 

Manchester United said on its website that the Adidas partnership has “excited fans around the world with forward-thinking initiatives, iconic designs on the pitch and fan-favorite culturewear off of it” and that new deal “increases the focus” on its women’s team for new apparel.

Manchester United announced the release of their new home shirt for the 2023/24 season on Tuesday. The club has used the city’s streets as inspiration for the kit but those who inhabit them have not taken kindly to the announcement.

In a further protest against the Glazer family’s ownership, a group of Red Devils fans blocked the doors of the club’s official shop, preventing the sale of the new kit.

“The Glazers are just trying to make as much money as possible at the club’s expense. We are against all the money they are making from football and not reinvesting in the team,” says one fan in the vicinity of Old Trafford.

It is nearly a year since the owners announced they were selling the club, but there has yet to be a firm offer anywhere near the 6 billion pound market value that Forbes magazine gives them. “Whether there is a sale process or not, we will continue to do this until they leave,” says the same supporter.

The Glazers became shareholders of the club in 2003 and acquired a majority shareholding in 2005. In those 18 years, the club has won one Champions League, one Europa League, five Premier Leagues, five League Cups and one FA Cup. However, they have not won a Premier League or Champions League since the departure of Alex Ferguson in 2013.