By Chris Wright
No wonder Manchester United have been able to afford spaffing £230million on new players since last summer!
The sheer amount of global commercial ventures that United have on the go at the moment is staggering, with the club’s vast portfolio of sponsorship deals bringing in well over £150million per year – with that figure set to rise to around £190million at the end of the next financial year when United’s £750million, 10-year kit deal with Adidas starts kicking in.
The biggies include principal sponsorship deals with Chevrolet (worth £47million a year), Nike (£25.4million), Aon (£17million), DHL (£10million) and bwin (£2.4million) – the club’s “Online Betting and Gaming partner”.
We thought we’d have a closer look at some of the smaller (in a relative sense, of course) partners that United have amassed over the last year or two – some of which seem to have been constructed using a random sponsorship deal generator.
Let’s begin with the “official wine of Manchester United“.
Casillero del Diablo current shovel around £2million-a-year into United’s bank account so they can call themselves just that…
United also make about £2million a year by letting Bulova call themselves the club’s “global timekeeping partner“.
This must also mark the first time Marouane Fellaini’s face has been used on an advert for anything (UPDATE: seems like we were wrong on that point)…
Of course, every self-respecting football club needs an official “diesel engine partner“…
Then there’s South Korean curry/meatball specialists Ottogi – who pay a lot of money to use United’s club crest on their microwaveable wares…
Kagome tomato juice – complete with faintly disgusting sound effects…
How United ever got by without an “official global noodle partner” is beyond us.
Thankfully, Japanese conglomerate Nissin Foods Group was able to step in and fill the void last year…
Of course there’s Mister Potato, United’s “official savoury snack partners“.
Wayne Rooney looks like he approves…
Unilver have signed up to become United’s “official Personal Care and Laundry Partner” in nine Asian countries, including Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Philippines…
Kansai Paint are the club’s “official paint partner“…
And there’s far, far more where that came from.
Here’s a comprehensive list of United’s other deals (via the Daily Mail)…
Aeroflot: Official airline
Aperol Spritz: Official Global Spirits Partner
Apollo Tyres: Official Tyre Partner
Epson: Office equipment partner
Toshiba Medical Systems: Medical systems partner
STC: Telecommunications partner of Man Utd for Saudi Arabia
The Hong Kong Jockey Club: Official partner
TM: Telecommunications partner in Malaysia
Globacom: Telecommunication services partner in Nigeria, Ghana, Republic of Benin
VIVA: Telecommunication services partner in Bahrain
VIVA Kuwait: Telecommunication services partner in Kuwait
Honda: Motorcycle partner in Thailand
Bakcell: Telecommunications partner for Azerbaijan
Gloops: Gaming partner in Japan
Truemove H: Mobile partner for Thailand
Truevisions: MUTV broadcaster for Thailand
PCCW: Telecommunications partner and broadcast partner for Hong Kong
Zong: Official Communications Partner in Pakistan
Mind-boggling really, isn’t it – but this is what it takes to keep a football club in Angel Di Maria’s and Radamel Falcao’s these days!