Manchester United and Tezos close sponsorship; Cristiano Ronaldo was the key

Manchester United, one of England’s most popular and successful clubs, has secured a sponsorship with the Tezos blockchain platform for its training kit.

Manchester United and Tezos close sponsorship

According to Athletic, the multi-year deal was worth more than £20 million a year. That is, about US$ 27 million.

Manchester would have already recorded promotional materials at the club’s training ground to make the official announcement.

Also according to the portal, football star Cristiano Ronaldo would have been a key part of the agreement:

“United’s signing of Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo was a factor that helped generate commercial opportunities during this campaign, although United sees these benefits as secondary to his potential contribution as a player,” the portal said.

Tezos arrives to replace the club’s previous sponsor, AON, after his contract expired last season. The club raised £120 million over the 8-year contract.

While Manchester declined to comment on the Athletic story, reports suggest the deal could involve collaboration beyond United’s training kit, which would help the club in its attempts to maximize opportunities in the tech space, including the metaverse and the “web 3.0”.

About Tezos

As mentioned, Tezos is a blockchain based on smart contracts (like ETH) managed by the Tezos Foundation.

The platform aims to offer an advanced infrastructure. This means it can evolve over time without the danger of a hard fork.

The native token of the blockchain is XTZ. It gives its holders the right to vote on proposed protocol updates that have been submitted by developers.

Agreements with sports entities

Tezos, like other cryptocurrency-focused projects and companies, has been investing in sports sponsorship.

In 2021, it became the New York Mets’ first blockchain deal and partnered with Red Bull Racing Honda to secure the racing team’s first ever NFT experience.

Tezos also became a sponsor of McClaren Racing in Formula 1, Indycar and Esports.

Meanwhile, the Polkadot network (DOT) appears as one of the options to sponsor the Spanish club FC Barcelona. As reported by Cryptheory, the protocol could become the sponsor of Barça’s sleeves and training kits.