As Manchester United regains its top spot as the world’s most valuable football club and the first billion-dollar soccer brand ($1.2bn according to the Brand Finance Football 50), we look at some of the sponsorship activation that lies behind the club’s enduring financial power.
This valuation resurgence, despite two silverware-free seasons, illustrates the club’s off-field pre-eminence: its seemingly ever-expanding financial power is built on blockbuster broadcast revenues, ticket sales, half a billion fans worldwide, 100 million plus social media connections and a world-leading sponsorship roster that includes record-breaking commercial partnerships with brands ranging from Adidas and Aeroflot (see case study), to Apollo Tyres (see case study) and Chevrolet (see case study).
The end of the season typically sees sponsors – such as Aperol Spritz (see case study), Chevrolet (see case study) and Swisscote (see case study) – take advantage of enhanced (pre-holiday) player-access which leads to a fresh flurry of commercial partner activation.
