AIG ends Man Utd sponsorship deal

[BAK]

AIG ends Man Utd sponsorship deal
BBC Sports News​

AIG has received a big cash injection from the US government​

The troubled US insurer AIG will not be renewing its shirt sponsorship deal with Manchester United that expires in May 2010.

AIG agreed to pay £14m-a-year for four years for the shirt sponsorship and also has a longer £5m-a-year deal to run MU Finance.

It is currently restructuring itself, having received a $150bn (£109bn) bail-out from the US government.

It is not clear whether the MU Finance deal will continue.

AIG signed a six-and-a-half year deal at the beginning of 2008 to offer insurance, credit cards and mortgages using the MU Finance brand.

Manchester United said that it had already started talking to a select group of potential sponsors.

Its spokesman added that it was normal to begin the process this early because technical issues surrounding the manufacturing of shirts meant that it has to know who will be its shirt sponsor for the 2010/2011 season by the autumn.

Last week in Macau, Manchester United chief executive David Gill said he would not be surprised if the AIG shirt sponsorship deal was not renewed.

AIG has already ended its sponsorship deal with the US Davis Cup tennis team.

 

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Man U msijali sana, Arabs lazma wajikombe. Oil Money ipo.
Sasa sijui Mtavaa Qatar au OPEC shirt

 

[Maxence Melo]

PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images: Manchester United's players won't be holding up the AIG logo on their jerseys for much longer. The debt-ridden insurance giant has pulled its sponsorship of the team.
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LONDON -- Insurance giant American International Group AIG.N will not renew its shirt sponsorship of world club soccer champions Manchester United and has already started cutting back costs in relation to the existing deal.

The American company also said in an email sent to Reuters that it was "in active discussions" with the club regarding the current four-year US$100-million deal, which runs until next May.

The English club, former home to David Beckham and current team of FIFA World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, has a huge global fan base, making it one of the top prizes in sports sponsorship.

"In October, AIG told Manchester United that it is not renewing its sponsorship," the company said in response to questions from Reuters.

"Further, AIG has been in active discussions with the club regarding the current contract, which expires in May 2010."

Once the world's biggest insurer by market value, AIG averted bankruptcy in September last year with an $85-billion (all figures US) federal bailout, which later swelled to about $152-billion.

The company has started selling assets and cutting costs to repay part of the government rescue package and joins a string of other companies that have had to rein in spending on sport as the global economic downturn deepens.

AIG said it had been reviewing all sponsorships following the Fed bailout and was already in the process of eliminating marketing, advertising and hospitality costs related to the existing Manchester United deal.

The news comes a day after Indian company Sahara, which has interests spanning financial services and real estate, said it had been approached by the Premier League champions about becoming a sponsor.

Manchester United spokesman Philip Townsend declined to say whether AIG would stop its sponsorship of the European champions at the end of this season.

"The process for the 2010 season has already started," Townsend said. "Sahara is one of a number of companies who have expressed an interest."

He added that ideally a sponsor would be named soon for its name to be ready for the start of the 2010-11 season.

"We would be starting the process now to find a new sponsor to have the new shirts ready in time for our outlets and fans around the world."

Sahara, which sponsors the Indian cricket team, on Tuesday said it had received an "elaborate" sponsorship proposal from the club.

British media have named Saudi Telecom 7010.SE and British insurer Prudential PRU.L as other potential suitors.

United's appeal is enhanced by its growing legion of fans in the largely untapped Asian market. The club has a series of exhibition games in China, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia planned for later this year.

With the global financial crisis biting deeper by the day, companies around the world are cutting costs and slashing sponsorship budgets.

British soccer club West Ham played for weeks without shirt sponsorship after holiday firm XL, went bust last year.

Formula One has also been hit. Earlier this week BMW-Sauber lost Swiss bank Credit Suisse CSGN.VX as a sponsor, while F1 teams have agreed to reduce their budgets by 30 percent for 2009 after Honda was forced to pull out of the sport last month because of the economic crisis.

Manchester United relies on sponsorship for around a third of its revenues. The club pays around $59-million a year to service $901-million in debt created when U.S. owner Malcolm Glazer bought the club in 2005.

© Thomson Reuters 2009

 

[RR]

Man U msijali sana, Arabs lazma wajikombe. Oil Money ipo.
Sasa sijui Mtavaa Qatar au OPEC shirt

Man U wanafanya mazungumzo na Dar Young Africans (thru' Manji)..

 

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Mambo ya Credit Cruch, no wonder Ambramovich anataka kuiza Chelsea, habari zilipo vuja amekuwa mbogo balaa...