Vodafone pull Man Utd deal 2 yrs early

whiskeyman

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/11/23/story231645.html

The media will love hitting this story as "another problem" for the "crisis at United", but it does seem more like a restructuring on behalf of Vodafone as it has just signed a 3 year deal with UEFA to sponsor the CL from next summer.

Rumour are that Audi will be next "Gold" sponsors... sample jersey attached.
Whats the situation of their kits anyway? Is the home one due for replacement next year, or the following year?
A new sponsor will bring in a huge increase in new sales if no change was planned...

p.pete

Mightn't be the best time for United to have to look for fresh investment as I don't think the clubs image is quite at it's zenith at the moment with Glaziers at the helm.

BaZmO*

p.pete wrote:

Mightn't be the best time for United to have to look for fresh investment as I don't think the clubs image is quite at it's zenith at the moment with Glaziers at the helm.

Ah c'mon. They will have absolutely no problems whatsoever attracting a big name sponsor.

B.

p.pete

Yup, I agree - just don't think it's the best time for them to be squeezing top dollar from a big sponser, what with half the fans spending the Summer griping and demonstrating etc.

TheMonster

Its actually the opposite they are in the news far more at the moment so will prob get more

p.pete

TheMonster wrote:

Its actually the opposite they are in the news far more at the moment so will prob get more

LOL, it's certainly about exposure I'll give you that much - sponsorship is about image as well though and I'm just suggesting that ManU's image isn't at an all time high.

Do Opel sponsor the CL and also football teams? what's the difference to what Vodafone want to do?

whiskeyman

p.pete wrote:

Do Opel sponsor the CL and also football teams? what's the difference to what Vodafone want to do?

I dont think Opel are CL sponsors... Ford are the main car sponsors here.
Vodafone just want a bigger audience for a high class event... they can always be associated with winners at the end of the day.
It's a great move by them, tbh. You may think the Vodafone shirt deal was great, but it wasnt very effective given the money involved.
T_Mobiles deal with West Brom is well known as the most cost effective shirt deal in the Premiership.

gracehopper

I would think from this report that United have decided to add an additional sponsor along with vodafone because they dont feel they have a deal thats on a par with Chelsea or real madrid.

Quote:
"Red Devils commercial director Andy Anson is convinced it will actually allow the club to negotiate a better deal.

“The Manchester United shirt is the most iconic in sport,” he said.

“The club feels that, in the current market. There is a genuine chance to attract significant additional investment."
End Quote

Chelsea or anybody could be winning all the trophies and United would still be a safer bet for advertising, Why? because globally more people watch United than any other club in the world

i must admit as far as publicity goes its a fairly bad time for United to be agreeing to end a sponsorship contract with their major sponsors, Mothers and fathers everywhere will curse them aswell cos the kids wont wear the vodafone jersey anymore

beer enigma

gracehopper wrote:

, Mothers and fathers everywhere will curse them aswell cos the kids wont wear the vodafone jersey anymore

I know a three people that have bought jersey's as Christmas presents....at €50 a go, its very annoying:mad:

astrofool

they were due to change their home shirt next season, they changed the away strip to the blue one this season

LegacyUser

p.pete wrote:

Yup, I agree - just don't think it's the best time for them to be squeezing top dollar from a big sponser, what with half the fans spending the Summer griping and demonstrating etc.

Since when were a few ridiculous mancurians anything to worry about anyway?

whiskeyman

astrofool wrote:

they were due to change their home shirt next season, they changed the away strip to the blue one this season

ah, ok.
So anyone who got the home kit would have done so knowing it would change next season anyway.
More annoying if you bought an away one then

The Muppet

I'm with P.Pete on this one. It's not an ideal time to negotiate top dollar from a sponsor. Utd fans are simmering at the moment and there is a militant element (as we saw with cubic expression) that have the potential to make potential sponsors take a wide berth. In fact I have seen the tactic of targeting sponsors with Mass E-mail etc discussed on Utd Forums by anti Glazier supporters. Big Business may decide getting involved with United is not worth the hassle .

Ruskie4Rent

I heard that polo mints should be the new sponsers..... Cos they've a big hole in the middle hahaaw:(

Rikand

Ruskie4Rent wrote:

I heard that polo mints should be the new sponsers..... Cos they've a big hole in the middle hahaaw:(

PUN OF THE DECADE!!!!

The Rooster

The Muppet wrote:

I'm with P.Pete on this one. It's not an ideal time to negotiate top dollar from a sponsor. Utd fans are simmering at the moment and there is a militant element (as we saw with cubic expression) that have the potential to make potential sponsors take a wide berth. In fact I have seen the tactic of targeting sponsors with Mass E-mail etc discussed on Utd Forums by anti Glazier supporters. Big Business may decide getting involved with United is not worth the hassle .

The loss of Vodafone is exactly what Shareholders Utd and other anti-Glazer groups wanted. Vodafone got absolutely bombarded by people telling them to quit United - more than any other company affiliated with MU. Whether that played any part in the decision is something of course that Vodafone or MU will never admit. Do Shareholders Utd have a website? Are they claiming this as a victory? Or have they changed their mind about the club losing sponsorships being a good thing?

PHB

Can somebody show me a quote anywhere(i.e. United or vodafone) that says Vodafone pulled out on United?

Bluetonic

PHB wrote:

Can somebody show me a quote anywhere(i.e. United or vodafone) that says Vodafone pulled out on United?

Why do you think there'll be a quote? It was only reported to the stock market as a business release. There will be no offically quotes, never is in stock market releases.

anyhow in other news...

Man Utd rule out renaming stadium

Manchester United have dismissed suggestions they could rename Old Trafford as part of a sponsorship deal.

The club are seeking a shirt sponsor after Vodafone ended its arrangement, but stadium naming rights will not be included in any new package.

"Old Trafford will always be Old Trafford, we are not going to do a naming rights deal," said the club's commercial director Andy Anson.

"We'll find a great shirt sponsor who's going to be a partner on that level."

Arsenal's new 60,000-seater ground in Ashburton Grove has been named the Emirates Stadium as part of a £100m eight-year deal with the airline which also includes shirt sponsorship.

However, United remain convinced that Vodafone's decision to end its partnership with the club two years early can work in their favour financially.

That confidence is backed up by the fact that the likes of Juventus, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea all have shirt deals worth more than United's agreement with Vodafone.

"The Manchester United shirt is the most iconic in sport," said Anson.

"The club feels that, in the current market, there is a genuine chance to attract significant additional investment.

"Initial soundings and discussions with a number of world class potential partners have been very encouraging and we are confident of securing a new deal in the coming months

-oRnein9-

This is from the ManU webbie : http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=278281

p.pete

This is from a slightly more impartial website: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,277-1888008,00.html

There's a great chance that United will be able to increase revenue from this but I'm thinking that they may need to get more then one bidder involved and try get them playing off each other.

Pros: largest fan base; playing in the most watched league; regularly in the CL; high profile club

Cons: seems dodgy that previous sponsor pulled plug; do we want to be associated with the Glazers; Fans unrest / militant; uncertain to get out of CL group stages; lack of recent trophies; just lost influential captain; manager will possibly change soon (could be seen as good or bad but it adds to uncertainties)

The Muppet

The Rooster wrote:

Do Shareholders Utd have a website? Are they claiming this as a victory? Or have they changed their mind about the club losing sponsorships being a good thing?

http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ is the shareholder United Website.


Sharholder United is not what it was pre takeover . I have not been on the site lately so you will have to check out their site to answer your other question.

Serbian

PHB wrote:

Can somebody show me a quote anywhere(i.e. United or vodafone) that says Vodafone pulled out on United?

Are you suggesting that United got rid of Vodafone? Certainly all the news articles above agree that it was Vodafone terminating the agreement.

mchurl

united will ,no matter what there current situation, be able to attract a top dollar shirt sponsor. They will get exposure all over the world.

SteM

This was posted on rednews earlier, the final section of the piece made me smile though.....

Sam Wallace in Indy on Vodafone.

[Snip]

United, who were originally sponsored by Japanese electronics firm Sharp from
1982 to 1990, could opt for a Far East sponsor. It has not gone unnoticed
among Old Trafford officials that representatives of Samsung are more
interested in obtaining tickets to watch United than Chelsea because of the
presence of South Korea international Park Ji-Sung in the team.'