Manchester United have announced that they have signed global tech company TeamViewer as their new principal shirt partner in a five-year deal.
Starting from the 2021-22 season, TeamViewer’s logo will be seen at the front of the club’s matchday kits instead of Chevrolet, whose seven-year association with the club is now set to end with this season.
A Detroit-headquartered Automobile division of the American multinational corporation General Motors, Chevrolet became the Official Automobile Partner of Manchester United in May 2012. Two months later, the automaker was announced as the club’s new principal shirt sponsor in a deal that would commence with the 2014-15 season.
With an agreement worth US$559m over seven years, Chevrolet’s logo replaced that of British financial risk-mitigation products provider AON at the front of United’s matchday kits. AON has since continued to serve the club as the title sponsor of their training centre, Carrington, and as the front-of-shirt sponsor of their training kits.
In the wake of COVID-19, Chevrolet’s deal was previously extended by the club to run until December 2021, midway through next season.
United’s contract with TeamViewer is valued at £235m and will run until the end of the 2025-26 season.
Apart from shirt sponsorship, TeamViewer will also be working with the club to provide innovative Augmented Reality-based solutions to provide United fans worldwide remote access to their club’s home ground, Old Trafford. Several other fan engagement activities are also expected to be organised over the course of this partnership.
Chevrolet’s departure from United’s sponsorship portfolio leaves the club looking for a new automobile partner from next season onwards. Talks are also underway for a new agreement for the club’s training wear’s front-of-shirt and Carrington sponsorship, both of which are currently fulfilled by AON.
The TeamViewer sponsorship becomes the biggest shirt-only deal in Premier League’s history, and the biggest sponsorship deal of any kind signed by a sports team since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Talking about the deal, TeamViewer’s CEO, Oliver Steil, said:
“We are very excited about this partnership, as it will significantly expand our brand positioning and it will help us to market our comprehensive solutions portfolio to all customer segments globally. With Manchester United and TeamViewer, two global winning teams join forces: Together as Team United we can bring the fan experience in the legendary Theatre of Dreams to a new level. We are extremely proud Manchester United picked us as partner in their ongoing technology journey.”
Manchester United’s Managing Director, Richard Arnold, added:
“We are tremendously proud to be establishing this partnership with one of the most exciting and dynamic global software companies. The ability to connect and collaborate has never been more important to the world and our community of 1.1billion fans and followers. We are looking forward to working with TeamViewer to bring to life our vision for a partnership built on smarter ways of connecting people and businesses.”
Manchester United’s ability to strike a deal of this proportion in a time like this is a positive sign of their commercial might still prevailing. Where the club were once worried about losing their principal sponsor midway through a season – never a good sign for any club, let along one of United’s stature – they have been able to secure a new one in a comparatively long-term deal.
TeamViewer becomes only the sixth principal sponsor of Manchester United (after Sharp Electronics, Vodafone, AIG, AON, Chevrolet, TeamViewer) in their 143-year-old existence. With room for more new deals, it will be interesting to see what other brands the Red Devils rope in ahead of next season.
Manchester United play their FA Cup Quarter-Final match this weekend as they face Leicester City away from home. (Scheduled Time – 10:30 PM IST)
Written By
Anshuman Joshi
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