Ineos are actively trying to improve Manchester United’s revenue streams but the commercial income has taken a hit this summer.
Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has publicly spoken about Manchester United’s financial troubles this year, stating that the Red Devils were going bust by the end of 2025 before Ineos intervention.
Despite Ratcliffe’s warning, United are on track for record revenue with the current record set at £662 million.
But United are falling behind their rivals financially and last season’s 15th-placed finish in the Premier League and defeat in the Europa League certainly isn’t what sponsorships will call attractive.
As a result of the underperformance, United’s global partners have threatened to quit and now Ineos are suffering the consequences this summer.
Photo by Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
As a global brand, United rarely struggle to attract sponsors and the £60m Qualcomm front-of-shirt deal remains a very lucrative agreement.
However, United have launched their 2025/26 training kit this week and eyebrows were raised because there is a lack of a sponsor.
United were previously partnered with Tezos in a £24 million per year deal, according to the Daily Mail. Football Finance expert Adam Williams spoke exclusively to United in Focus about the lack of sponsorship and what it means for United moving forward.
“It’s more common than not these days for a club to bill a sponsorship deal as a ‘multi-year’ contract and not brief to the press exactly how long the partnership actually is,” Williams said.
“Often, that’s because there are break clauses included that mean one of the sides can end the partnership early after a set period of time without incurring a huge financial penalty.
Man United revenue projections
Credit: Adam Williams/United in Focus/GRV Media
“The fact that United signalled last month that Tezos wouldn’t be returning as training kit sponsor and have since launched the new training kit without a new partner suggests to me that this has come from Tezos’ side rather than United’s.
“That might be because they are reducing their advertising budget or that they simply don’t see the value in the United partnership that they once did. Remember, Marriott Bonvoy has also broken off its deal with the club in recent weeks.
“The Marriott deal was probably worth £5-10m. The Tezos deal won’t have been worth as much as £24m as that figure will have included all bonuses and other contractual elements, but it’s certainly a significant hit.
“In terms of the amount they have lost, I suspect it won’t be a huge drop-off. The value with a training kit sponsor is seeing it on rolling news channels, in interviews etc, so they have some time to sort that out still. If they don’t have a deal in place soon though, it will be an issue. They could do a Chelsea and not have one in place for a whole season, and that’s a significant hit.
“They will be going backwards with sponsorship revenue, which is a sign of how bad things are on the pitch. United are one of the biggest brands in world football, but they can’t sustain that through a decade or more of underperformance.
“In my view, United have been coasting with sponsorships for a while now. There has been barely any commercial growth for almost a decade. They’ll set a new record in 2024-25, but that’s not particularly impressive when basically every club is doing that every season – and by much bigger margins than United, in most cases.“
The record-breaking £900m Adidas deal remains the flagship of United’s sponsorship agreements, with the kit manufacturer deal the most lucrative in world football.
In the latest accounts, United’s sponsorship revenue was recorded at £178 million, and clearly Williams expects that figure to grow when the 2024-25 figures are released.
But having partners drop out of their deals should be ringing alarm bells for Ineos and United’s hierarchy as it is symbolic of the club’s underwhelming performance in the past decade.
While United’s rivals are picking up pace, Ineos risk going backwards if they are unable to attract lucrative sponsorships for things such as the club’s training kit.
With no European football next season, United have become much less attractive to sponsors for 2025/26, which adds even more pressure on Ruben Amorim to qualify next season.