Kit suppliers and shirt sponsorship can really make a financial difference to football clubs. Sole 24 has analysed the relationship between the technical sponsor and the shirt sponsor of the world’s top 10 clubs and has found that the figure comes to nearly €1 billion.
 

Manchester United are at the summit thanks to deals with Adidas and Chevrolet which guarantees the Red Devils around €153 million; €94.2 million from the German sports manufacturer and a further €59 million from the automotive giant. This will change from next season because in November, Barcelona closed out a deal with the Japanese giants Rakuten who will pay €60 million per season from the 2017-18 campaign. Add to this the €85 million received from Nike that will rise to €105 from 2018-19.  

German giants Barcelona have signed a lucrative deal with Adidas until 2030 which at the moment brings in €70 million per season. Shirt sponsor T-Mobile adds a further €35 million to the club’s finances. Real Madrid recently swapped kit supplier to Adidas but continue their tie-in with Emirates. The combined deals bring in around €70 million at the moment but could increase to €140 million.
 

Serie A clubs fall dramatically behind Europe’s elite with only Juventus managing to get anywhere near. The bianconeri earn €40 million from deals with Adidas and Jeep and are, as expected, number one in Italy. Milan come next with €30 million (Adidas & Emirates), then Inter on €23 million (Nike & Pirelli).




Steve Mitchell @barafundler