"If you want some accessible but informative insight into football then I suggest you couldn't do better than the Political Economy of Football website, which is not only intelligible but comes with the added bonus of being written by Addicks fan Wyn Grant." Ben Hayes - Charlton Athletic programme
Whatever problems they have been having on the pitch, and the tide may be turning there, Manchester United continue to enjoy great success of it. After admittedly protracted negotiations, they are about to sign a new kit deal with Nike worth £600m over ten years which will treble the value of their current deal. This will give David Moyes the financial muscle he needs in the summer transfer window.
Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a lucrative five-year sponsorship deal with AIA from the start of next season. The insurance services provider, which is Asia’s largest insurer, linked up with Spurs at the start of the 2013/14 season as their cup shirt partner, and will become principal global partner from the start of the next campaign.
AIA’s logo will appear on the front of Tottenham’s shirts in all competitions until 2019. The size of the deal has not been disclosed, but it is thought to be significantly more than the £12m a year mentioned in some initial reports.
Manchester United may have been struggling by their standards on the pitch recently, but they continue to be a considerable financial success. The results issued today relate to the club’s second fiscal quarter, i.e., the last three months of 2013. Pre-tax profits were £30.3m compared with £28.4m this time last year.
The Football Conference is seeking a new sponsor after confirming its three-year deal with money transfer company Skrill will end after just 12 months. Skrill agreed a deal with the league in July 2013, ending a two-month search for a sponsor of its three divisions which clearly was far from easy.
The two parties have now mutually agreed to end their arrangement. “Skrill has undergone a number of changes and will be aligning any future sponsorship activity to its global strategy,” a Conference statement read. Presumably a global strategy and English non-league football don’t line up.
By their standards Manchester United have had a faltering season so far, but this has not diminished commercial interest in the club. Indeed, a bidding war between sportswear giants could see them secure a world record kit deal worth as much as £70m a year. This would be more than double the deal between Arsenal and Puma announced earlier this week.
Nike’s six month exclusive negotiation window expired at the end of July 2013 and their contract comes to an end next year. Adidas, Warrior and Puma are holding talks with United this week.
Arsenal has secured its biggest commercial deal in the form of a five year kit agreement with German sportswear company Puma. Terms were not disclosed, but are believed to be slightly more than the £150m contract signed in 2012 with Emirates to extend the airline’s sports sponsorship and stadium naming arrangements.
Puma will replace Nike as Arsenal’s kit supplier from July, ending a 20 year association. Puma have acquired the rights to produce Arsenal-branded merchandise, as well as the club’s training and first team kits.
Barclays Bank is considering not renewing its £40m a year sponsorship of the Premier League as it is not seen to deliver ‘value for money and ‘zero value in the UK’. The bank is engaged in a thorough review of its global operations.
The bank’s present deal runs until the end of the 2015-16 football season and members of Barclays’ leadership team are concerned that rapid price inflation for sports rights will mean a much higher amount will be demanded by the Premier League for the next three-year deal.
West Bromwich Albion shirt sponsor, Zoopla, has warned the club to axe Nicolas Anelka or risk their lucrative shirt deal being scrapped.
Zoopla, a property and house prices website company, has delivered an ultimatum to Albion by threatening to pull out of its contract if Anelka plays in the Premier League game against Everton at the Hawthorns on Monday night.
Anelka is under investigation by the Football Association and facing a potentially lengthy suspension after his controversial ‘quenelle’ goal celebration that has been described as anti-Semitic by Jewish organisations.
Hull City owner Assem Allam has threatened to pull his money out and walk away from the club if he is prevented from changing their name to the Hull Tigers.
Allam remains determined to pursue his belief that Hull will be more marketable with a different name and able to attract better sponsors, even though fans have reacted furiously to the proposal. It is also not the good marketing idea that he thinks it is despite his insistence that the club’s historic name is a ‘lousy identity’.
What is the long-term management plan of Joe Lewis, the majority owner of Enic, the company that owns Tottenham Hotspur, and of his representative on Earth, Daniel Levy?
In the longer run, they may want to sell the club. Champions League football would make Spurs a more attractive proposition, but so would a redeveloped stadium.