German sportswear giant Adidas has confirmed speculation that it will become Manchester United’s new kit partner by announcing a record 10-year deal with the English Premier League football club.
The agreement, worth a basic £750m (€936.7m/$1.28bn), will commence from the 2015-16 season and will run through the 2024-25 campaign. Adidas will become the global technical sponsor and official licensing partner of United, succeeding US rival Nike in the role.
As part of the agreement, Adidas will supply product to Manchester United and outfit all of the club’s teams. In addition, Adidas will have the exclusive right to distribute dual-branded merchandising products worldwide.
Manchester United adds to Adidas club football portfolio, which also includes Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, AC Milan, Flamengo and – also starting with the 2015-16 season – Juventus.
“Our new partnership with Manchester United clearly underlines our leadership in football and will help us to further strengthen our position in key markets around the world,” Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer said. “At the same time, this collaboration marks a milestone for us when it comes to merchandising potential. We expect total sales to reach £1.5bn during the duration of our partnership.”
The path to Adidas’ deal was cleared last week after Nike confirmed it would not extend its long-term partnership with United beyond the 2014-15 season, stating the terms being sought by the club did not represent good value for its shareholders.
United’s current 13-year deal with Nike expires in July 2015 and consists of a basic annual fee, plus a share of profits from merchandise sales. The club is said to have earned around £38m in total from this arrangement in 2012-13.
The 2014-15 season marks the first campaign of United’s new shirt sponsorship deal with US automotive firm Chevrolet, which will bring in a record-breaking $559m (€411m) over the seven-year duration of the agreement. United’s partnership with the General Motors brand will run through 2020-21.