Manchester City Set for Sponsorship Boom after Title Win

May 14, 2012

Manchester City could experience a sponsorship boom following winning the Premier League title after a 44-year period.

City has the potential to double its sponsorship earnings over the next five years thanks to winning the Premier League title, according to sport sponsorship experts.

Twitter was ablaze with activity during the game and QPR’s Joey Barton – who was sent off during the match – was for a time the top trending topic on the social network on Sunday.

Sponsorship experts are in agreement that securing the title will be a significant boon for the club’s sponsorship coffers, particular given that the Premiership has a four billion strong global audience.

Nigel Currie, director of sports marketing agency brandRapport, said: “With this Premiership win, Manchester City over the next five years can double their sponsorship earnings.”

Currie’s reasoning is largely based on the growth of the Premiership globally, and particularly in Asia.

A report commissioned by the Sport+Markt group in Germany said the global Premier League audience has now reached 3.9 billion, with the biggest market being Asia and Oceania, which registered 1.3 billion viewers.

Currie said there was a “big question mark” over whether Man City could secure the sponsorship crown but victory will give the club “a massive boost” in its earnings.

Angus McGougan, business director at FastTrack, added: “This gives Manchester City a great platform to go and engage with new audiences, as there is so much interest in the Premiership in Asia.”

Sponsorship experts also believe Manchester City’s bargaining chips will be improved following its new kit deal with Nike, which replaced Nike’s subsidiary Umbro as the club’s kit supplier. Manchester City also recently signed deals with social network Foursquare and Youtube.

Experts believe the marketing power of Nike will also help Man City boost its overall sponsorship earnings.

Manchester City is thought to earn up to £400m under its sponsorship agreement with Etihad Airways. 

The club’s other commercial partners include Electronic Arts, Thomas Cook Sport, Harvey Nichols, Amstel and Paddy Power.