LONDON: Premier League clubs have broken their own record for combined shirt sponsorship deals, with the 20 clubs generating £313.6 million ($412.5 million) for the 2018-19 season, a rise of £31.8 million on last year, according to findings released by online sports business journal Sportingintelligence.
This is ‘only’ for the main sponsors on the fronts of the shirts. Sleeve sponsors are paying a further £46 million to the 20 clubs combined.
The increase again illustrates the commercial strength of the League with shirt sponsorships more than trebling in eight years. The combined total in 2010-11, when Sportingintelligence first performed this exercise, was £100.45 million.
Manchester United’s club-record deal worth £47 million a year with Chevrolet remains the biggest deal in the Premier League but Manchester City’s deal with Etihad has climbed to £45 million per year via another ‘step increase’ in their contract, meaning they now have the second biggest deal.
Liverpool’s renegotiated deal with Standard Chartered, Arsenal’s with Fly Emirates and Chelsea’s with Yokohama (tyres) are each worth £40 million a year.
Totenham Hotspurs’ deal with AIA is worth £35 million a year, completing the big six’s deals, which are head and shoulders above the Premier League’s remaining 14 teams, in terms of value.
Meanwhile, the international appeal of the Premier League has been demonstrated with 17 clubs having sponsors with overseas headquarters based in countries as diverse as the USA, China, Japan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Malta, Kenya and The Philippines. Only Liverpool, Southampton and Watford boast British-based sponsors, the Sportingintelligence study notes.
According to the Sportingintelligence report, there is a consistent pattern that an ‘average’ club makes just over one tenth of the amount each season from their shirt deal as they do from Premier League TV income. For example, in 2010-11, the average shirt deal was worth £5 million a year and the average TV income was £47.6 million.
Last season, the respective figures were £14.1 million and £121 million, giving a ratio of 11.6%.
