The Football Association’s search for an exclusive Lead Partner has ended with the signing of British telco BT as the most-visible sponsor for all England national football teams.
Under the five-year deal, the BT logo will emblazon the training kit of both the men’s and women’s squads, starting with this summer’s Uefa Nations League and Fifa Women’s World Cup competitions.
Going forward, the logo will also appear on the training kit of all development, disability and futsal squads.
The sponsorship also guarantee branding at the national football centre at St. George’s Park and at Wembley Stadium for England home matches.
As a part of the same deal, mobile network provider EE will continue as the Principal Partner of Wembley Stadium for the next five years. EE is a division of the BT Group.
Read this: Budweiser blows rivals ‘out of the water’ at FA, Mars downsizes
According to UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the combined deal is worth about £10m (€11.2m/$12.6m) per year.
BT takes over the lead role from carmaker Vauxhall which vacated the position after the 2018 World Cup in Russia in a deal worth about £7.5m per year.
Mark Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive, said: “This is a great start to an exciting week for England football, with the Lionesses starting their World Cup campaign and the men’s senior team in the finals of the Nations League.”
Along with BT, the FA has added banking group Barclays and high-street pharmacy brand Boots to its commercial partner portfolio this year.