Premier League club Manchester United’s $1.1B kit deal with Adidas“could be terminated” by the sportswear giant if the club were relegated out of the Premier League, according to James Ducker of the London TELEGRAPH. Another option would be for Adidas to “reduce payments for a year by half” to $56M if ManU’s “worst fears were realised and the club was relegated.” The club currently sits in 14th position of the Premier League table, which is just seven points above the relegation zone. The deal with Adidas runs until June 2035 and includes a $12M penalty in the event ManU fails to qualify for the UEFA Champions League this season (London TELEGRAPH, 1/1).
JUST BAD TIMING: THE ATHLETIC’s Philip Buckingham wrote even though relegation would “not suddenly see commercial partners all jumping ship,” ManU would “inevitably struggle to replicate the deals they have typically attracted if they are a second-division side.” ManU’s three-year front-of-shirt deal with technology firm Snapdragon, a Qualcomm subsidiary, is worth $225M and does not even have a clause for them failing to qualify for the Champions League, let alone dropping out of the Premier League. However, their current arrangements for training kit sponsor and match shirt sleeve sponsor expire in 2025, so relegation this season would be “awful timing for a club going to the market to seek new deals” (THE ATHLETIC, 1/1).
