Man Utd urged to change approach to next shirt sponsorship deal

Manchester United might have to consider a change of approach when it comes to their next shirt sponsorship deal, according to an expert in the field of football finance.

United's seven-year deal with Chevrolet expires at the end of next season and no new partnership has yet been announced, despite links at the back end of 2019 that a record deal with Chinese firm Haier was close.

The coronavirus pandemic might now force United to reconsider plans, with the sponsorship market likely to be affected as a result of the economic downturn that will be a side effect of the COVID-19 outbreak.

United have historically signed long-term deals with shirt sponsors and Chevrolet is only the fifth company to adorn the front of club shirts since Sharp became the first sponsor back in 1982.

But Rob Wilson, a football finance expert from Sheffield Hallam University, believes now might be the time to consider a short-term deal instead.

"Part of me wonders whether they'll look at a shorter deal to try and ride it out, and I think in some ways that will be easier to get more people interested,” he explained.

"What you find is sponsors want to associate themselves with particular brands and United have always been playing this attractive, exciting, winning football when they've signed these previous deals, so it's been in the interests of their partners to sign up to these long-term deals.

“But when you do that you limit your options because not every organisation out there is going to be able to commit to £750million of spending over a 10-year period for example.

"It could be they look at a long-term deal that ramps up, maybe linked to playing performance or revenues, that might be quite innovative, but I think they might end up with a shorter deal that might be of equivalent value, as they might get a handful of organisations thinking £40m to £60m for a year, we could probably do that, and that might help us turn our business around if we're struggling.”

With United in form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before the football season was suspended, Wilson believes some companies might still see a link with United now as an opportunity, especially if they return to the top of the table in the next few years.

Trying to strike a deal in China also remains a possibility, depending on the economic situation in the country where the coronavirus outbreak began, with no football club yet taking a stranglehold of what remains a hugely lucrative market.

"What they've done previously is to try and get into North America quite aggressively, you think back to the AIG deal and that was part of that, and China has been there for them, but no club has really cracked the Chinese market, no club has a proper foothold in that territory, so there is certainly big potential there," said Wilson.

United's response to the COVID-19 outbreak has led the way in the Premier League, with the club refusing to furlough staff and taking numerous measures to support employees, both permanent and casual. They also paid fans who had travelled to Linz £350 when the game was moved behind closed doors and last week lit up Old Trafford blue as a show of support for the NHS and carers.

Wilson has been hugely impressed with the decision making at United during this period, and doing the right thing might well have a benefit when it comes to strengthening community links and social capital.

He sees the backlash to Newcastle's Saudi takeover as a sign that people's focus on “social capital” is sharpening amid the pandemic, which would position United strongly in that area.

That could also present an option for the front of the shirts for 2021/22, with Wilson highlighting the possibility that United could offer them free to a charity or good cause for a season,

"They've taken some steps that you look at and think 'fair play, I wouldn't have expected that from a giant like Manchester United', it's like they've not even thought twice about it, they've just done it because it's the right thing to do," he said.

"So tying the sponsorship of the shirt into that equation and the lack of economic activity going on and the recovery that will take place, why not give it away? Instead of taking a smaller sum from a sponsor they don't feel is aligned to us and our values, do something else with it. It's certainly a potential option and it's all about doing the right thing, which they've been doing a lot recently."