Manchester United on Sunday signed a new sponsorship deal with insurance giant Aon estimated at close to $230 million. The eight-year deal starts July 1 and will include posting the company’slogo on United’s training uniform as well as the naming rights to its Carrington training center. Aon also sponsors United’s game-day uniform, but General Motor Co.’s Chevroletdivision will take that sponsorship over in 2014, in a seven-year deal worth $559 million.
To secure the new sponsorship deal with Aon, United bought out its previous training uniformsponsorship — worth about $65 million — with express shipping company DHL so it could sell the rights for more cash. While Carrington will be officially renamed, the club said it has no plans tosell the naming rights to its home stadium. ”Old Trafford will not be sold,” Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice chairman, said.
United, which plays second-placeManchester City at Old Trafford on Monday, has a comfortable 15-point lead at the top of the English Premier League table. The club, which recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange, became themost expensive sports franchise in the world, according to Forbes, with an enterprise value of $3.3 billion.