Over the past 18 months, Manchester United have endured their most difficult period on and off the pitch since the late 1980s and that has had a sizeable impact on the club’s ability to generate revenue.
Following the collapse of the disgraced European Super League in 2021, several sponsors backed away from pending deals with United as supporters targeted that area in a bid to reach the Glazer family.
Now, it is being reported that United’s biggest shirt sponsor, TeamViewer, are reviewing their partnership with United less than 18 months after they featured on the legendary strip for the first time.
TeamViewer replaced Chevrolet at the front of all of United’s kits at the start of the 2021/22 season but with the club’s future still uncertain, it has been announced that the Germany-based company are looking to make changes to the contract they signed.
TeamViewer put pen-to-paper on a £235m deal in 2021, spanning over the next five years and the latest development comes after they have already confirmed that they would not be renewing the terms.
“As active investors we will not tolerate that you spend ca. 1.4x your net profit or over 70 million euros per year on sponsorship contracts with Manchester United and Mercedes Formula 1. You are not SAP, Oracle or Mercedes,” Petrus Advisers, investors in TeamViewer, said, according to the Manchester Evening News.
TeamViewer responded: “The international awareness of the brand was clearly increased last year through the partnership [with United]. Nevertheless, the company has decided to review its long-term marketing strategy in light of the current macro-economic environment.
“In addition, the company has already communicated its desire to explore opportunities to amend the existing contract.”
From a marketing perspective, this will come as a blow to United officials but in the grand scheme of things, supporters should be happy.
