“It’s always more difficult to sell shirt and sleeve sponsor at the same time,” says Haddad. “You don’t want front of shirt, sleeve and training kit all expiring within 12 months.”
“The benchmark they’re chasing is £60million. They won’t want to lock in £60million again for the next five years because that’s just flat growth. They’ll be wanting to grow that £60million to £70million or £80million. But doing those deals at the same time places a hell of a strain on the commercial team.”
Shirt sponsorships for the so-called ‘Big Six’ generally cost in the region of £40million to £50million per season, but Manchester City, whose commercial income was the highest in the Premier League, bring in £67.5million from Etihad — a package that also includes sponsorship of their home stadium and training ground.this season, are the club eager to make up lost ground.
“There’s never a scenario when these clubs find no interested parties, but it’s a matter of what price they’re going to get. The cost base for these clubs is going up and up, so sponsorship is one of the areas they target to find gains.”A ‘Big Six’ club might aim to bring in a minimum of £40million a season for shirt sponsorships —and Standard Chartered is thought to be worth £50million — but for most below, there is a very different expectation.