Man Utd shirt sponsor reviewing terms after chief investor slams deal with club
Manchester United ’s official shirt sponsor TeamViewer have announced that they are attempting to “amend” their deal with the Red Devils after their agreement was torn apart by one of their chief investors.
Petrus Advisers, owners of a 3% stake in the German tech giants, penned a scathing letter to the company’s executives over recent days and called for them to pull-out of their sponsorship deals alongside Man Utd and the Mercedes Formula One team.
They wrote: “As active investors we will not tolerate that you spend ca. 1.4x your net profit or over 70 million euros per year on sponsorship contracts with Manchester United and Mercedes Formula 1. You are not SAP, Oracle or Mercedes.”
They also labelled the deals as a “sign of hubris” and “appalling judgement”. Intriguingly, shares in TeamViewer reportedly rose up to 5% in value following the letter in what is a complete opposite to the dramatic fall that they suffered in the aftermath of their £235m deal with United being announced in 2021.
The German tech company has already announced that they will not be extending their partnership with the Premier League club once their contract expires in 2026. A company statement at the time read: “The international awareness of the brand was clearly increased last year through the partnership [with United].
“Nevertheless, the company has decided to review its long-term marketing strategy in light of the current macro-economic environment.”
Now, it has been confirmed that they are currently attempting to renegotiate the terms within the existing deal. A TeamViewer spokesperson said: “In addition, the company has already communicated its desire to explore opportunities to amend the existing contract.”
It remains to be seen whether TeamViewer or United will agree to ending the deal prematurely. The current sponsorship is worth an estimated £47m per year to the Old Trafford club, a fee that is not affordable for TeamViewer considering their net profits currently sit at a reported £43.5m annually.
Previous sponsor Chevrolet paid £17m-a-year more during their agreement with the Red Devils but it has previously been reported that the club are confident of finding a suitable replacement for TeamViewer.
Speaking after the Red Devils’ sponsorship was announced, the club’s managing director Richard Arnold said: “We are tremendously proud to be establishing this partnership with one of the most exciting and dynamic global software companies.
“The ability to connect and collaborate has never been more important to the world and our community of 1.1 billion fans and followers. We are looking forward to working with TeamViewer to bring to life our vision for a partnership built on smarter ways of connecting people and businesses.”
