Manchester United, one of the world’s most popular soccer (or football) teams, is reportedly set to announce a multi-year training kit sponsorship by proof-of-stake blockchain platform Tezos.
First reported by The Athletic, the deal is apparently in excess of $27 million per year, allowing Tezos to place its logo on the team’s training uniform. Manchester United has reportedly finalized filming promotional material ahead of the official announcement.
The report also speculates that the partnership may involve collaboration in the technology space, such as a metaverse or other Web3 projects.
Tezos has made a heavy investment in sports sponsorships. In May 2021, RedBull racing announced Tezos as its official blockchain partner. Tezos built its first nonfungible token (NFT) fan experience, which was launched in November later that year.
A similar announcement by McLaren Racing a month later saw Tezos as its official technical partner in a multi-year deal across its Formula 1, Indycar and esports teams, and the Tezos network was used in the launch of McLaren’s NFT collection in October 2021.
Manchester United is in the top tier of pro-English football dubbed the English Premier League (EPL). It joins several other EPL clubs that have either penned sponsorship deals or fan token partnerships.
In August 2021, Dogecoin (DOGE) partnered with Watford FC as its shirt sleeve sponsor for the 2021–2022 season, with players sporting the coins’ famed meme logo on their arms. Manchester City, Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC have all launched fan tokens on various platforms such as Socios and Bitci.