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Fri 02 October 2020 | 4:30

Biggest kit deals in football history

Which companies are considered the biggest kit sponsors in the world of football? Let’s find out as we go through the biggest kit deals in football history.

We all love the beautiful game of football and might even believe that we can’t live without it. Surely sports, especially football, are always fun and great. But could they have grown into such powerful industries if they didn’t have sponsors supporting them financially? Sponsors are an integral part of the modern game as not only they help the team grow financially, they help globalize the club’s and their own brands by advertising all around the world.

Attracting better sponsors has been one of the main purposes of sports teams, and football clubs are no exception. Almost all football clubs, at least in the professional leagues, have their own sponsors to keep on going forward with the money they earn. This also allows them to pay the players’ salaries and keep up with the upkeeps.

Of course wherever there is a possibility to measure something, there is always a competition. In this instance, companies have turned into more of a group of rivals competing to sign the

biggest kit sponsorship deals in football history

so that their brand’s name could appear next to the title “

Biggest kit deal in world football

” to show how lucrative and prestigious their company is. That is how the competition for the biggest kit deals in football history has been born.

biggest kit sponsorship deals in football history

Let’s see which are the

most expensive shirt sponsorship deals in football history

and see which company sits at the top as the biggest kit deal in world football.

Tottenham Hotspur

  • Sponsor: Nike

  • Deal worth: £30 million

English clubs are used to signing some of the

most lucrative shirt sponsorship deals in football history

, and they’re no strangers to earning unimaginable amounts of money through these deals. But it might be quite surprising to see that

Tottenham

have in fact signed one of the biggest kit deals in football history by signing a deal worth £30M with the sportswear giants Nike which will last until 2023.

Although Jose Murinho’s team is not considered to be one of the richest clubs in the world, it has managed to land one of the

biggest shirt deals in football of all time

. Nike might want to rethink their strategy as Tottenham have seen quite a dip in form after their loss to Liverpool in the Champions League final back in 2019.

Tottenham are now sitting 8th on the

Premier League

table with only three games played. They have won, lost, and also drawn in the three games that they have played. Although their current performance might not have much of an effect on their current deal, they might not be able to sign another one of the biggest football kit sponsorship deals ever after their present deal ends.

Liverpool

  • Sponsor: Nike

  • Deal worth: £31 million

Liverpool

are now considered to have signed one of the biggest kit deals in football history, but they have had quite a bit of drama with their previous kit sponsors “New Balance” before signing a lucrative deal with the sporting giants Nike. Before one of the

biggest football kit sponsorship deals ever

was signed, Liverpool were under contract with the American sportswear brand New Balance, who claimed that their contract included a section stating that New Balance could automatically renew the contract provided that they could match the other offers.

The high-court, however, sided with Liverpool on the subject as they argued that there was no such clause in the contract, and that New Balance could never manage to reach the global marketing feats of Nike. Now, Liverpool have got at their hands one of the biggest shirt deals in football of all time, which is said to be worth around £31 million per year.

Juventus

  • Sponsor: Adidas

  • Deal worth: £45 million

Juventus

have surely bounced back from their unfortunate fate after the Calciopoli scandal which saw them get relegated to Serie B and lose their

Serie A

title to their rivals Inter. They have been the absolute dominant power in Serie A for almost a decade, winning the Scudetto every year since 2011. Juventus are more than motivated to win the

Champions League

and strengthen their squad even more to become one of the best in the world once again.

You could see them working on their plans as they have brought in players such as

Cristiano Ronaldo

, arguably one of the two GOATs still active in the game. Juventus hit a turning point after Ronaldo’s arrival as millions of his fans have become Juventus fans as well after their idol’s move to Italy.

This resulted in a marketing surge as sponsors were looking to broker a new deal and sign one of the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deals in football history. That is why Juventus now have one of the

biggest kit deals

in football history with the German sportswear giants Adidas, which is said to be worth around £45 million per year.

Bayern Munich

  • Sponsor: Adidas

  • Deal worth: £51 million

Even the greatest clubs in the world haven’t been able to win two trebles in the last decade, which shows the importance and the difficulty of what the Bavarians have achieved in ten years. Their second treble of the decade came thanks to both some of their old-schoolers such as Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller, and young talents such as Serge Gnabry and Alphonso Davies, who have been under the spotlight of the media due to their consistent impressive performance.

As arguably the best club in

Bundesliga

, and of course as a continental treble winner, one might imagine that sponsors would do anything to sign one of the

biggest kit deals in football history

with the German giants that would stand for at least another decade. That is what their compatriot sportswear manufacturers Adidas have managed to do as the two have signed a deal that will see Bayern Munich receive £51 million per year.

Chelsea

  • Sponsor: Nike

  • Deal worth: £56 million

As one of the more successful English clubs, both in the UK and in Europe, The Blues have seen some of the greatest players of the generation don their all-blue kit to take on some of the greatest clubs in the world. This is the way sponsorship works. The better and more famous your players are, and the more trophies you win, the better your sponsorship deals get and the more money you earn.

Chelsea

have been the most active English club in the transfer market as they have signed possibly the superstars of the future by investing in players such as Timo Werner (RB Leipzig) Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen), Hakim Ziyech (Ajax), Malang Sarr (Nice), Ben Chilwell (Leicester), Thiago Silva (PSG) and Edouard Mendy (Rennes).

This will definitely boost their shirt sales, which will undoubtedly make the club and their kit sponsors Nike quite happy. The two have signed one of the

biggest kit deals in football history

which is said to be worth around £56 million a year.

Arsenal

  • Sponsor: Adidas

  • Deal worth: £60 million

Holding the nickname “The Invincibles” is certainly something special, and would undeniably bring the holder of this name one of the biggest kit sponsorship deals in football history in honor of such a title. Only

Arsenal

and

Preston North End

have been able to win their respective leagues without losing even one game throughout the season. Arsene Wenger’s 2003-2004 team managed to win the Premier League just like mentioned to give Arsenal one of the highest and most difficult to achieve honors in the world football.

As one of the biggest kit deals in football history, Arsenal and Adidas have agreed on a deal which will see the Gunners receive £60 million per year which is quite mind-blowing considering that some of the decade’s arguably better clubs in Europe have lagged behind the English club, even though they have won more continental and even domestic trophies, which gets to show how powerful, lucrative and loved the English Premier League actually is.

Manchester City

  • Sponsor: Puma

  • Deal worth: £66 million

After Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan took over the charge at

Manchester City

, the club have been rejuvenated and have set new goals to become one of the most decorated clubs in the world, while also signing some of the biggest football kit sponsorship deals ever. Although the club are now one of the toughest opponents to face in the world, they have had to put in a lot of effort and splash a lot of cash around to bring in new players, and they still have a long way to go.

Winning the

Premier League

four times in the last ten years shows what a dominant force Manchester City have become. This semi-dominance in the Premier League has seen them land one of the biggest kit deals in football history with the German manufacturers Puma that sees them earn £66 million a year based on the deal the two have made.

There have been rumors about Messi joining the English club for some time now, and many believed that the Argentinian was about to sign his contract if it weren’t for the €700 million release-clause in his contract. Of course if Messi, one of the two GOATs active in today’s football ever decides to join Manchester City, he might possible inspire the biggest kit deal in world football.

Paris Saint-Germain

  • Sponsor: Nike

  • Deal worth: £75 million (from 2022)

Of course one of the biggest kit deals in football history between

PSG

and Nike has not started yet, since the deal has been signed to begin from 2022. But the important matter is that a deal has been struck and some of the details have been announced as one of the most expensive shirt sponsorship deals in football history will see the Parisians earn a staggering £75 million a year.

PSG have also been working on big projects by bringing in some of the biggest names in the world, including Barcelona’s

Neymar

and the world’s future GOAT

Kylian Mbappe

, spending more than €350 million on these two players alone, which leaves fans curious about where all this money comes from. Of course it is expected of such big names to bring in one of the biggest kit deals in football history, which is exactly what they have done.

Manchester United

  • Sponsor: Adidas

  • Deal worth: £78 million

Although

Manchester United

haven’t been able to live up to the expectations after the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure from the club as its manager, they have still been able to land one of the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deals in football history with Adidas, which means that they earn £78 million a year as the Red Devils are one of the richest clubs in the world.

One of the biggest kit deals in football history has given Manchester United the ability to splash the cash on players such as

Harry Maguire

, for whom they paid around £75 million and haven’t gotten their money’s worth according to experts and fans.

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Real Madrid

  • Sponsor: Adidas

  • Deal worth: £104 million

The long-term partnership between the Spanish giants

Real Madrid

and Adidas has made life quite comfortable for the two sides as they have been able to plan their future with more ease and peace of mind. The two have signed one of the most expensive shirt sponsorship deals in football history, which sees Real Madrid earn £104 million on a yearly basis.

Los Blancos have also taken on a new project in the city of Madrid, as they have started the work on their stadium renovation project, which will give the fans a futuristic and updated version of the Santiago bernabeu stadium and will be completed in 2023.

Barcelona

  • Sponsor: Nike

  • Deal worth: £135 million

Some might think who could trump Real Madrid’s £104 million deal with Adidas to be on top of the list of biggest shirt deals in football of all time? The answer is Real Madrid’s arch enemy

Barcelona

, who have agreed a deal with Nike to earn the outrageous amount of £135 million per year, which has of course made their deal the biggest kit deal in world football.

Barcelona have been going through quite a strange and dramatic phase in their history as their greatest player of all time Lionel Messi has been in dispute with the club director Bartomeu over his transfer to another club. Barcelona’s new manager Ronald Koeman is looking to start a new Koeman era as he has let go of Barca greats such as Ivan Rakitic, even terminating Barcelona’s third all-time goal-scorer

Luis Suarez

as he left for La Liga rivals

Atletico Madrid

.

We will have to wait and see if Barcelona can hold on to their contract as the most lucrative kit deal in the world, or if another club will emerge with a much more lucrative and expensive deal with sportswear manufacturers.


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