Nike have announced that they will stop producing Manchester United shirts after this upcoming season, opening the way for Adidas to sign United to a record smashing deal worth a reported £600 million over 10 years.
United’s current deal with Nike is worth £24 million a year, but after unveiling a new kit for the 2014-15 season, Nike announced that it would be the last one bearing the Nike logo.
“Manchester United is a great club with passionate fans,” Nike spokesman Nigel Powell said in a statement. “We are proud to have partnered with them for the last 12 years and will continue to sponsor the club until the end of the 2014-15 season. Any partnership with a club or federation has to be mutually beneficial and the terms that were on offer for a renewed contract did not represent good value for Nike’s shareholders. We look forward to a successful final season with the club.”
If the Adidas figures are true, it would be dwarf the reported £31 million a season Adidas pays to Real Madrid, currently the most expensive kit deal.
An Adidas deal would also signal that even without Champions League football this season, Manchester United are still one of the biggest clubs in the world.
With Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rule,s clubs that generate the most commercial revenue will in the long tern win both on and off the pitch. The Adidas deal, combined with United’s £350 million deal with shirt sponsor Chevrolet over seven years means that the club will bring in close to £1 BILLION dollars over the next ten years. Think about that for a second. That is £1 Billion before a ticket is sold, before any other sponsors are signed, before any TV money.
That is why United can afford to spend £250 million on new players this season and not even blink. At the moment, no other club can do that from cash generated (PSG and Man City can do it via their owners).
That is a huge competitive advantage and if they buy well this summer should set Louis van Gaal up for success in the coming seasons.
